Clico foreign assets sold

For instance, in September 2009, CL Financial sold its chain of 25 shops in Paris which are known as Le Repaire de Bacchus (the lair of Bacchus) in a transaction that was never announced and for which details are slim. CL Financial had acquired Le Repaire de Bacchus, which specialises in the sale of upmarket and rare wines, in 2005. The company last year sold Bacchus, back to French magnate Dominique Fenouil, who founded Bacchus in 1983.

Le Repaire de Bacchus represented a possibly steady stream of income and would have become a key outlet for drinks products produced within the CL Group – which has for decades dabbled in various spirits ventures beyond its anchor Angostura products. CL Financial insiders put the company’s investment in Le Repaire de Bacchus at around EURO eight to EURO ten million (or TT$67 million to TT$84 million), but declined to say the selling price, even with concerns over kickbacks to favourable business partners in years past. The sale of Le Repaire de Bacchus, which was handled by French law firm Carreras Barsikian Robertson & Associ?s, came after CL Financial also made moves to shed itself of online fine wine retailer ChateauOnline.

ChateauOnline handles an estimated EURO five to EURO seven million in sales of fine wines from all over the world. The company had held an interest in Le Repaire de Bacchus. “Those were sold,” said former CL Financial director Michael Carballo. “They were relatively minor assets. They were not doing too well.” Carballo noted that the sales did not necessarily need Government approval.

“I am not too sure whether they needed Government approval for that. They were relatively minor investments the sale of which aimed to deal with the debt situation and was done in the normal course of a business virtually under liquidation,” he said. “In contrast, with something like Clico Energy, that was a major investment.” He noted that the sale would have been approved by the CL Financial board. CL Financial chairman Gerald Yetming yesterday said ChateauOnline is still in the process of being sold. “ChateauOnline online is in the process of being sold,” he said.

Also sold last year by CL Financial — in another unannounced sale — was the Barbados subsidiary Clico Mortgage and Finance Corporation (CMFC). The CMFC — with assets estimated at about $441 million — was sold by CL Financial in October 2009 to a credit union, the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union.

The ventures now being trimmed were part of a conglomerate group which attracted high-end clients and aimed to make a mark in the high-end market.