Sri Lanka gets 88 responses for Hilton, Hyatt sales

ECONOMYNEXT- Sri Lanka has received expressions of interest from 88 international companies to purchase the Colombo Hilton and Grand Hyatt building, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said

"We have received expressions of interest from 88 international companies," Mangala Samaraweera said.

The deadline for responses was also extended by two weeks to mid November, he said.

Opposition member Vasudeva Nanayakkara had written to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe saying there was not enough time for investors to respond by the end of the month, and he would go to court.

However the government had said only few details of the investor was required in the EOI, and no financial bids are required at this stage.

Samaraweera said that the initial two week response period for the tender ads published in international media has now been expanded by another two weeks, to end in mid-November.

The previous plan of floating the two companies on a special board on the Colombo Stock Exchange will not go ahead, Samaraweera said.

He said it's too early to mention how much the government could raise from the sales.

Colombo Hilton, which is a single tower hotel, has a foundation which allows another tower to be built with an investment of 4 billion rupees and 2 additional acres of land to build commercial or residential property, but the government doesn't have the cash to expand, the government said.

It said that the yet-to-be completed Grand Hyatt has over 15 billion rupees in public funds invested.

Lazard Asia of Singapore and MTI Consulting are financial advisors to the sale. (Colombo/Oct23/2018)

The Invisible wrote:

Opposition member Vasudeva Nanayakkara had written to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe saying there was not enough time for investors to respond by the end of the month, and he would go to court.

Main point here is they are not opposing the sale.

serene wrote:

The Invisible wrote:

Opposition member Vasudeva Nanayakkara had written to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe saying there was not enough time for investors to respond by the end of the month, and he would go to court.

Main point here is they are not opposing the sale.

Because they know that they created this mess and someone else pays the price