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Citrus Growers Assoc. Bites Back at Banks Holdings
posted (February 18, 2010)

Last night you saw the executives of Banks Holdings give their side of the dispute between the CGA and CPBL. And today the CGA responded with its own press conference. But before we get to that, we’ll do a bit of straightening out of terms – because the feedback we’ve been getting is that some folks are slightly confused.

  • First, Banks Holdings is not a bank – it is a large Barbadian Beverage Company – kind of like the Bowen and Bowen of Barbados. It produces soft drinks like coca cola and sprite, Banks beer, assorted dairy products and fresh juices.
  • Second the Citrus Growers Association or CGA is the growers group which owns 51% of Citrus Products of Belize Limited, or CPBL – that’s the company which actually makes the Citrus Valley juice or concentrate that you drink.
  • Henry Canton is the CEO and Managing Director of the company – which means he’s the boss and as managing director, he also sits on the board. Now Banks Holdings owns 47% of CPBL making them the minority shareholder.
  • Five of the nine directors on the CPBL Board are put there by the CGA as the majority shareholders. They say that three of those directors, Henry Canton, Chairman Mike Duncker and Frank Redmond have gone rogue and ceased to represent the Citrus Growers Association. The CGA now wants them off the board.

That’s a basic background and today one of the CGA’s other directors, Chuck Woods – who remains allied with the CGA – held a press conference along with CEO of the CGA Henry Anderson. Following up on the announcement made yesterday by Sir Allan Fields that Duncker and Redmond are willing to step down, Woods said they’ve been proposing that for months. In fact with only two months left on their term – the urgency is that they’ve been trying to eject them since July of last year.

Chuck Woods, CGA Board Member
“You would have had the impression that it was something the CGA just dreamt up, perhaps in the past few weeks to try and replace some of its appointed directors. In fact we started to do this from last year July. So it is nothing overnight and to say that we could just simply wait until the AGM may be misleading. We have been trying really from last July to do so and we have been denied.

What we suggested as our initiative, we are the ones that made the move, to contact Banks Holdings and see if we can at least get an agreement on two, if they would at least support us moving at least two of our appointed directors whose seats are not contested; they have no contractual arrangements with the company for example and we would continue to discuss and continue with the argument and the demand for us remove any of our five directors. But let’s begin with those two since there is apparently not a problem with them. That didn’t happen. So I just want to make the point that if those two directors would decide to step down tomorrow, we would be happy, at least we can get two more of our own on our five seats. So we are not saying no to that.

Where do we go from here, how do we resolve this dispute, how do we save the industry from further burden, carrying this burden of a dispute between CPBL and CGA and Banks Holdings. What needs to happen in the case of CGA and CPBL issue is CGA needs its five directors of its choice on board CPBL. That has to happen before anything else can happen.

CGA has the absolute right to appoint and replace five directors. Three of those who we had appointed last year and have sought to replace have refused to step down and probably will be there through to the AGM in April and it did not have to happen. They could have politely step down, the CGA puts fresh face at CPBL to join the others that they want to remain there, and everything else continues. Any other dispute, any other disagreement then can continue to be negotiated and discussed. So the problem is the denial our absolute right to get our people on board CPBL.

The reason why we need to continue pushing to get our people onboard as soon as possible is that everyday that goes by that that doesn’t happen, we believe those who are there that we have tried to remove are making decisions in capacity of directors that had we had our appointed directors of choice would not be making those same decisions. In other words they are making decisions that are not in the best interest in our opinion of CPBL or the industry for that matter. So the longer they remain there, we believe more damage can be done to the company CPBL and by extension to the industry and the majority shareholder.”

Adele Ramos, Amandala
“What sort of injury has these directors in question caused to CPBL or CGA’s interest in the industry?”

Chuck Woods,
“To me one of the glaring damages that has result since then has been our subsidiary company, CPBL, to have resigned from the CGA. That could only have happened at a board meeting of CPBL and it could only have happened because they had directors there purporting to be acting in the interest if the majority shareholder. Obviously that is not the case or they would not have supported that decision. So to me that is the most glaring of all.”

Henry Anderson, Chief Executive Officer – CGA
“We watch CPBL resources being used to attack us. When you look at all of those ads it is copyrighted CPBL. Those ads are not promoting CPBL, they are promoting individuals.”

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