Brydens expands footprint in Barbados through Armstrong deal
Published:Wednesday | September 10, 2025 | 12:06 AM
A.S. Bryden & Sons Holdings Limited, ASBH, has acquired 50 per cent of Barbados-based Armstrong Agencies Limited, AAL, a distributor of multiple foreign brands, inclusive of Lasco beverages as featured on its website.
Brydens Group CEO Richard Pandohie said the stake was paid for in cash and shares, and created a partnership between the two companies. The size of the deal was not disclosed.
The deal was struck through ASBH’s subsidiary in Barbados, Retail Acquisition Company Limited, RACL, which also holds the recently acquired Stansfeld Scott (Barbados) Limited. Brydens Group is owned by Jamaica’s Seprod Group.
Pandohie says the AAL acquisition is part of the bigger picture of regional expansion at Seprod Group, of which he is also the CEO, and a natural progression following the Stansfeld Scott deal.
“It’s part of just making sure we have our presence in the OECS and part of the regional buildout. The narrative that we’re telling people is that we’re a regional player. You can’t be a regional player without key presence in these countries. So, it all fits into the same narrative from before,” Pandohie said. OECS is short for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
Armstrong was also attractive to Seprod because of its pharmaceutical distribution arrangements. It has a 20-per cent share of the pharma market in Barbados, while food distribution is around eight per cent of its portfolio. It’s also into the distribution of wines and spirits, beverages, confectionery and household products.
Within the pharmaceutical space, Seprod Group already has in its stables Facey Pharmaceutical in Jamaica and Pi which is run by A S Brydens in Trinidad & Tobago. Pandohie says pharmaceutical distribution is one of the key pillars of the Seprod Group’s regional buildout while food distribution and alcohol beverage distribution form the other two pillars.
“Those are the three key pillars with respect to the distribution side of the business,” Pandohie said., adding that Stansfeld Scott was more on the beverage side of the expanding distribution effort, while AAL is more on the pharmaceutical and food side.
Armstrong Agencies is a family-owned enterprise established in 1993.