Eastern Caribbean companies plan merger

Eastern Caribbean companies plan merger Port of Spain, Trinidad-based Neal & Massy Holdings Ltd. said Wednesday it has reached a merger agreement with The Barbados Shipping & Trading Co.
   'This will result in the creation of one of the largest and most diversified, indigenous corporations in the region,' said Bernard Dulal-Whiteway, Neal & Massy's chief executive officer.
   He noted the two companies have been business partners for nearly a decade. In 1998, they reached an agreement that each would take a 20 percent stake in each other's company.
   Together the companies are expected to have combined annual revenues of more than $1 billion when the merger is completed. The merge will allow the companies to achieve sustainable growth in the markets and industries in which they are involved, a statement said.