Lee-Chin’s AIC to make payment this month
Published:Friday | January 2, 2026 | 12:09 AM
AIC (Barbados) Limited has formally confirmed its obligation to make principal and interest payments in January totalling US$94.09 million to bondholders, following weeks of tension and a public ultimatum issued by investors.
“[We] confirm that both payments will be made as a single payment of US$94 million no later than Monday, 26 January 2026,” according to a letter from AIC addressed to the Jamaica Central Securities Depository Trustee Services (JCSD), seen by the Financial Gleaner.
In the letter issued on Wednesday, Director Michael Lee-Chin indicated that the figure reflects the combined outstanding interest of US$19.09 million and the first principal payment of US$75 million, both originally due on December 31. The letter made no mention of the source of the funds, whether from the sale of assets, debt, or shares in NCB Financial, which had been pledged as collateral for some bonds.
“While this date is beyond our agreed timeline of December, it is well within the 45-day period agreed by the parties,” added the notice.
Bondholders hold a diverse portfolio of 14 notes linked to AIC (Barbados) Limited, Portland Barbados Limited, and Specialty Coffee Investments Company. Lee-Chin, chairman or majority owner of these entities, did not immediately respond to messages from the Financial Gleaner on Thursday. The debt matures on a phased basis in August 2024, January 2025, August 2025, August 2026, and January 2027. Sagicor Group Jamaica, which holds some notes on behalf of clients, did not respond to Financial Gleaner queries before press time.
The payment timeline comes against the backdrop of a bondholder ultimatum approved in early December, in which investors demanded clarity on overdue payments tied to Portland Holdings-related debt instruments. That ultimatum, framed as a resolution of the Note Holder Committee, warned that failure to meet year-end obligations would trigger enforcement rights. It followed months of uncertainty around Portland bonds, with investors pressing for transparency on repayment schedules.
Essentially, bondholders insisted on payment of roughly one-third of the US$300 million in total bond payments outstanding. That equated to US$94 million as a partial year-end payment. They cited the need to restore confidence in the instruments and protect their rights. Failure to pay would trigger the sale of a portion of Lee-Chin’s stake in NCB Financial, pledged as collateral.
AIC (Barbados) Limited, controlled by Lee-Chin, reduced its holdings in NCB Financial by nearly 32 million shares to 1.195 billion over 12 months to September 2025. It now holds 46.24 per cent of NCB Financial, down from 47.49 per cent a year earlier. Lee-Chin also controls a further 1.76 per cent through AIC Global Holdings Inc, which remained unchanged. Combined, those holdings amount to 48.0 per cent.
Over the years, AIC Barbados’s holdings have shifted: 53 per cent in 2019, 52.1 per cent in 2020, rising to 52.6 per cent in 2021 and 52.7 per cent in 2022, then declining to 51.15 per cent in 2023 and further to 47.5 per cent in September 2024.