PM says Hilton Colombo, Grand Hyatt will be listed this quarter
The much discussed and debated ‘hot topic’ of publicly listing key State owned Enterprises (SOE) is slated to happen this year, according to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Capital market sources told the Business Times that after the Bank of Ceylon (BOC)-Seylan Bank saga which has left a bad taste in the share market, the PM has promised top officials at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the government will list the two hotels by this first quarter. “By the two hotels he meant the government has plans to divest its stake in the Hilton, and the yet-to-be opened Hyatt,” a source said.
Last month in a tense and confusing turn of events the PM met with the CSE top brass and told them of the government’s intention to revoke state-owned Bank of Ceylon’s (BOC) controversial sale of a 7.5 per cent stake in the private Seylan Bank to a Japanese buyer based in Singapore (who some believe could be a front for a local business). Authorities have made it clear that in order to facilitate industry consolidation, the government won’t dilute state holdings in banks. “In the same discussion he made it clear that the Hilton and Hyatt holdings by the state will be sold on the CSE,” the source said.
The Ministry of Public Enterprise Development is in the process of preparing Request for Proposals (RFPs) for the two hotels to attract potential investors, Ministry officials said. Also they are trying to sort out Hilton’s land matter that’s in dispute.
“When the part refurbishment at Hilton Colombo was completed, there were many interested parties for that property but the land that this property is on is in dispute. So they are trying to sort it out,” a ministry official said.