Proven remains Dream Entertainment shareholder
Published:Sunday | April 9, 2023 | 1:19 AMAvia Collinder - Business Reporter
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TWO YEARS after ostensibly losing its major investor, Proven Investments Limited (PIL), Dream Entertainment Limited indicates that it expects this year to supersede 2019 results. “We are expecting to surpass 2019 numbers in terms of the number of...
TWO YEARS after ostensibly losing its major investor, Proven Investments Limited (PIL), Dream Entertainment Limited indicates that it expects this year to supersede 2019 results.
“We are expecting to surpass 2019 numbers in terms of the number of international tourists that will be coming in this year,” said Scott Dunn, managing director of Dream Entertainment. “The economic boost should be in the region of about $5 billion dollars to what it was previously.”
The company, co-owners of the Xodus Carnival band, is an event organiser, owning and producing large events. Its main events have been Dream Weekend, Xodus Carnival, Dream Weekend Cruise and The Cooler Weekend.
Carnival season will commence a week after Easter celebrations, between April 13 and April 16. Dream Entertainment will be hosting a range of events such as Tailgate, J’ouvert and Remedy, which are described as high-ticket events on the carnival scene.
Dunn states that costumes are almost sold out and they are prepared to execute the event “as the biggest band on the road”.
The company is in recovery mode after pandemic conditions shuttered the entertainment sector and, as a result, many workers were sent home.
Prior to Proven’s sale of its stake of 2,500 shares in 2021, shareholders in Dream Entertainment numbered 10, who each held 1,000 shares, with the investment company rounding out ownership of the 2,500 shares, or one-fifth of the company.
In September 2021, however, PIL, managed by Proven Management, announced to the market that it had sold its 20 per cent stake in Dream Entertainment.
The disposal was made to Yes Iyah Limited. The transaction was said to have recouped the initial investment of roughly US$500,000, which PIL paid for the Dream shares in February 2019, just one year before the COVID-19 pandemic. No further details were shared on the transaction.
On April 5, 2023, however, The Companies Office of Jamaica’s (COJ’s) records indicate PIL continues as owner of the 2,500 shares.
“We provided vendor financing to the purchaser and will transfer the shares upon payout,” COJ head, Christopher Williams, told Sunday Finance.
Asked for the timeline on repayment, Williams indicated that this was uncertain.
COJ records also show that Yes Iyah is owned by shareholder G.K.K. Incorporated of a St Michael, Barbados address, which has 100 shares; FEP Limited of St Michael and Jamaica addresses, with 500 shares; and LTD Real Equity of Jamaica, with 400 shares.
In 2021, PIL disclosed that it had invested US$570,000 in the entertainment business.
Williams had commented at the time of the sale to Yes Iyah: “The Dream brand is strong and will survive. We worked with these guys and they are incredible professionals who are helping to build Brand Jamaica. At the end of the day, our confidence in the entertainment business, and in Dream in particular, is extremely strong.”
While Dunn did not project revenue numbers for the carnival event, he commented: “The COVID Economic Recovery Taskforce study maintains that festivals in Jamaica have a total estimated annual economic impact of J$28.7 billion, with 75 per cent of all these events having an estimated annual economic impact of J$21.5 billion.
“Carnival is one of the biggest cultural festivals in the Caribbean, and the economic impact from tourists was J$2.97 billion, while the overall economic impact of carnival in its entirety was J$4.59 billion,” he commented.