Ceylon Theatres Holdings soon after merger

By Natasha Gunaratne

The merger between Ceylon Theatres Limited (CTL) and Millers PLC (MPL) is expected to be completed by January 31 leading to the creation of Ceylon Theatres Holdings.

A spokesman for the company said the merger is part of a long term restructuring plan aimed at increasing shareholder value, streamlining operations and to have a clear holding company.

The current Board of Directors of CTL will remain as directors of the holding company after the merger is completed. The investment holding company will be a pure investment holding company devoid of any operations such as will be a focal point for strategic portfolio investments and divestments.

Under such a singular structure, the benefits of such portfolio re-alignments are expected to flow directly to the shareholder.
The merger is also aimed at sectorising the company's holdings. The food sector which is Cargills is expected to make a significant contribution to the holding company.

Other sectors include entertainment, tiles and wall tiles, plantations and properties.

The CTL Board of Directors (the current board) would be the board of the holding company after the merger.

MPL uses the Cargills retail network to distribute several prominent brands that it represents such as Kodak and Kraft, whilst it undertakes the distribution of Cargills Meat products and Kist range of products. Therefore, natural synergies exist between distribution operations of MPL and the retail and manufacturing operations of Cargills.

By transferring the MPL operations under Cargills, there is significant scope to establish a dominant presence throughout the value chain in the manufacture, distribution and retailing of fast moving consumer goods, the spokesman said.