LIAT, Caribbean Star Finalize Merger

The shareholders of LIAT Ltd and Caribbean Star Airlines Ltd have announced that negotiations toward merging both carriers have been finalized.

The announcement was made following a meeting held Wednesday in Antigua between the Prime Ministers of Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent & the Grenadines, primary shareholders of LIAT, and Sir Allen Stanford, sole shareholder of Caribbean Star Airlines. Merger negotiations had been ongoing since October 2006.

Under terms of the merger agreement, the Stanford Financial Group will lend the LIAT shareholder governments a total of $55 million for the purpose of liquidating LIAT’s financial liabilities, as well as to provide working capital.

The $55-million loan will be repaid to the Stanford Financial Group from the proceeds of an Initial Public Offering (IPO), which will be executed by an agency of the Stanford Financial Group within 24 months of the merger being finalized.