Duprey cuts workload

Published: Monday September 22, 2008

Billionaire businessman Lawrence Duprey has resigned as chairman of several subsidiary companies that form part of his CL Financial conglomerate.

Over the past few weeks, Duprey has quit as head of three firms that call insurance, energy and real estate giant CL Financial their parent company.

He resigned his chairmanship at local insurance firm British American, as well as Port of Spain-based Clico Investment Bank (CIB). Duprey also recently appointed "others to the helm" of Clico Holdings in Barbados, another CL Financial subsidiary.

Sources close to CL Financial's operations told the Express yesterday that Duprey resigned for a number of reasons.

The first was to "shed his load" of responsibilities as head of CL Financial, which has business interests in more than 32 countries, a source said.

He remains head of CL Financial, its flagship insurance company Colonial Life, as well as spirits producer Angostura Ltd.

Duprey intends to focus on energy business overseas as well as promoting Angostura's worldwide thrust in the beverage industry, another source told the Express.

CL Financial operates a number of methanol plants at the Pt Lisas Industrial Estate and Duprey was at the forefront of a deal to develop energy plants in Oman. He has also spent much of this year developing a four-star hotel in Ghana, as well as other business deals in other African countries.

He is continuing the conglomerate's energy expansion business as well.

A source said Duprey, who turns 74 next week, was also interested in succession planning and was engineering the "next layer of management specialists" at CL Financial.

Duprey was out of the country yesterday and is expected to spend his birthday next week with close family in Ft Lauderdale, Florida.


Source: Trinidad Express Newspapers
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_business?id=161378003