Entertainment company to go public
Published:Wednesday | November 17, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Kingston Live Entertainment Limited (KLE), the company that is partnering with Usain Bolt in a bid to leverage the Jamaican track star's name into a global chain of sports bar-retail complexes, plans to list next year on Jamaica's junior stock exchange, a spokesman has confirmed.
"KLE has not yet chosen the underwriting company and is considering our options," said Gary Matalon, a director and one of the company's seven principals.
However, Matalon said that KLE has been working with a Florida-based, Jamaican-owned accounting firm, Crichton Mullings and Associates, in the pre-feasibility phase of the planned IPO.
Just shy of two years ago, in December 2008, KLE launched Fiction, a trendy nightclub, at a Kingston restaurant mall known as Market Place.
The principals have declared it a smashing success, saying that they recovered their initial capital in the first 10 months of operation.
In May of this year, KLE - its principals are David and Stephen Shirley, Gary and Tina Matalon, Kevin Bourke, Craig Powell and Zuar Jarrett - teamed up with Bolt to form a new entertainment-related vehicle, to extract value out of the athletes' name that has recognition around the world.
Bolt is reported to be pumping US$1 million into the venture, giving him a minority stake in what is to be called Usain Bolt Tracks and Records - a string of casual dining and entertainment facilities that will also merchandise Bolt's products.
The first is to be opened during the first quarter of next year, next door to the Fiction nightclub, which is popular with a mainly younger, upwardly moving professionals.
Others will follow on Jamaica's north shore tourism hub, and the group says that it is negotiating with British interests to launch Usain Bolt Track and Records in London, in time for the 2012 Olympics in that city, when Bolt's name is expected to be among the hottest global commodities.
In London, Bolt will defend his Olympic titles in the 100-metre and 200-metre events, and quite possibly be seeking to assault his world records over the distances, unless they broken before then - which he says is an ambition.
In any event, 2011 will be a big year for Bolt, a seemingly good time for an IPO of a firm with which he is associated, given it is the year of the World Athletics Championships and a year in which Bolt has pledged to be serious and focused.
The KLE did not specifically link Bolt's performance on the track and the likely success of the offer, but its potential impact on the business was obviously not lost to Gary Matalon.
"But combining these elements (quality entertainment, good food and a great atmosphere) with the strengths of Brand Jamaica and Usain Bolt, our aim is to serve both local and tourists alike," he said.
KLE has not indicated how much money it expects to raise in the IPO or what proportion of the shares will be sold, but under the JSE Junior Exchange rules firms can seek between J$50 million and J$500 million and offer a minimum of 20 per cent of their stock.
Matalon argued that even in these tough economic times, oppor-tunities still exist in Jamaica for firms that are well managed and offer quality.
"Fiction is living proof of this," he said.
He said that the firm, which currently employs 54 persons, has grown its revenue by 12 per cent so far this year.
The staff will be doubled with the opening of the first Usain Bolt Track and Records.
While Fiction and Usain Bolt Track and Records will be next door to each other and seek to pull from the same demographic, each facility, accord to Gary Matalon, will be unique.
"UBTR will be open all day and include merchandise," he said.
According to Tina Matalon, while each Bolt facility will conform to the broad theme, each will have a specific character.
She said: "Each location within the brand will be flexible and take a different personality to aim at its specific target audience. This location (Kingston) will target a majority of locals seeking a destination to enjoy premier entertainment."