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Management handover to IBIS only after payment

by Rajmi Manatunga

The management of the CTB's six cluster bus companies will not be handed over to IBIS of UK until and unless the investor submits the 60 per cent of the total value to the Government, the Transport Ministry said yesterday.

Ministry Secretary M. Susiriwardene told the Daily News that contrary to various reports stating that the agreement to take over the management was to be signed between the two parties yesterday, there had been no decision by the Minister for such a move before the British investor completes the final transactions of the divestiture.

"What was scheduled for yesterday was a formal discussion between the two parties to take up matters of familiarising the foreign investors with the local transport sector. Somebody who had misunderstood the situation had announced that agreements were to be signed," he said.

The Ministry had made arrangements yesterday to hand over the management of six cluster bus companies including the Colombo Metropolitan, Gampaha, Kalutara, Sabaragamuwa and Rajarata bus companies to the UK-based IBIS which purchased them at the stock exchange sale in September. "The British investor has not yet submitted the 60 per cent value of the total shares which is essential for the taking over agreement," Susiriwardene said.

Contacted by the Daily News, State Transport Minister Piyasoma Upali said that in terms of the divestiture, neither 39 per cent of the shares nor the management of the companies could be allocated to the investor before IBIS had forwarded Rs 851 million of the total share value to the Government.

"The government will go by the rules of the procedure and the agreements will be signed only when these conditions are fulfilled," he said.

Meanwhile PERC said the British investor will be given time till February 13 to submit the required value and take over the company management. The balance 40 per cent out of the Rs 1419 million total value has to be paid before March 13.

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