Flooring contractor Caribbean Industrial Systems, CIS, has raised $100 million from a new bond amid a postponement of its plans to list on the stock market.
The company last tapped the debt market in 2019, raising $65 million at 10 per cent interest.
The current bond, arranged by Mayberry Investments Limited, was priced higher at 12 per cent. The company sought fresh capital to finance its plan to offer more services to contractors on a budget, including the rental of equipment as an alternative to purchasing, as well as concrete flooring solutions and construction chemicals.
“We are building the company on four pillars – epoxy, concrete, rental and construction chemicals – to help us to achieve our goals next year and into the future,” said Construction Industrial founder and CEO Andre Hutchinson.
He added that the company has been achieving revenue growth of 10 per cent annually since 2019. The funds raised in that year financed the company’s expansion into retail through the acquisition of Airmark Equipment and Supplies, a tools store founded in 2006 by Calvin and Christine Williams.
Airmark was renamed The Contractor Centre after the acquisition. It sells tools and equipment, but also cross-sells CIS sealing products and services.
Construction Industrial, which operates in Jamaica and Guyana, seals floors, walls, and roofs with resin to prevent bacteria build-up in restaurants and factories. In 2019, the company said it would list either preference or ordinary shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange by the first quarter of 2021, but its plan got derailed by the pandemic.
The company now expects to do an initial public offering and list by 2024.