Jamaican links up with 2 Trinis to gain control of Guardian Holdings

(Trinidad Express) It took two powerful Trinidadian business families, the buying and selling of millions of shares, the amalgamation of several companies and a secret lock-up agreement to give one man—Jamaican billionaire Michael Lee-Chin—a path to control of the publicly traded, Guardian Holdings Ltd (GHL) of Trindad.

Investigations by the Sunday Express reveal a series of transactions by the Lok Jack and Ahamad families from November 30, 2015, which culminated in the sale of a 29.99 per cent shareholding position in GHL to Lee-Chin on May 12, 2016 and the subsequent takeover bid in December 2017.