“the most exciting media development this century” -J.A.Lester Spaulding

Christopher Barnes, Gleaner Managing Director (right) and Oliver Clarke, Chairman of The Gleaner Company Limited, signing the agreement, while J.A. Lester Spaulding, RJR Chairman, and Gary Allen (extreme left), RJR’s Managing Director, look on—

The merger of the media operations of Radio Jamaica Limited and the Gleaner Company Limited has been described as the most exciting development for media in Jamaica this century.

The comment came from Chairman of the RJR Communications Group J.A. Lester Spaulding at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon to publicly announce the merger.

The boards of Radio Jamaica Limited and the Gleaner Company Limited say the transaction, which is to be pursued through a court approved scheme of amalgamation, will be a stock-for-stock deal.

Simultaneous with the transaction, the remaining publicly traded Gleaner Company Limited, with non-media assets comprising mainly real estate and other investments will be renamed.

This will result in the shareholders of the Gleaner Company Limited owning 50 per cent of Radio Jamaica Limited’s common stock and existing RJR shareholders owning the remaining 50 per cent of the combined business.

The coming together will create the country’s leading media company, providing, print, online, radio, television, cable television and new media products and services.