President directs sale of three state hotels
President Maithripala Sirisena has requested the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development to issue bids for sale of three state-owned hotels to attract potential investors. The three hotels are the Hilton, the proposed Grand Hyatt and Grand Oriental. “We’re gauging on how to maximise the value of these,” a source told the Business Times adding that plans are to either totally or partially divest them. He said that already they got a few unsolicited proposals pertaining to the three hotels which are actively being discussed and the parties were told to go through the process when the Ministry calls for bids.
The Ministry is now in the process of restructuring key State Owned Enterprises (SOE). While part of the Colombo Hilton is now being refurbished, the Grand Hyatt, located on Galle Road opposite Temple Trees which began in 2008 as a 475 roomed, 42 storey development ran into trouble when as Ceylinco Celestial Residencies this was stopped after Ceylinco faced financial difficulties. The company was re-launched by a firm called Sinolanka controlled by then-Presidential confidante Gamini Senerath in 2011.