Continental up for sale

Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

The Ceylon Continental Hotel will be sold at the right price Chairman of the owning company Hotel Services (Ceylon) Ltd and business magnate Nahil Wijesuriya said.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Dr Priath Wickrema confirmed that the SLPA was interested in the Continental acquisition due to the need for bringing all administration departments under one roof arising from the need for demolishing some buildings.

The growing needs arising from the South Port development project, the resultant increase in the cargo volumes by which traffic had reached a crescendo. There had also been appeals from the Ceylon Association of Ships Agents (CASA) and the Sri Lanka Association of Vessel Operators (SLAVO) to bring the administration under one roof, he said. However, he said the project was temporarily shelved due to pressure from the Tourism Ministry and the Urban Development Authority.

“We have also requested the UDA for alternative area of land,” he said.

“There have been various offers by various parties from the time we acquired the hotel with some serious offers and others not, but we will divest the hotel company to the party which will come up with the best offer,” Wijesuriya told Daily News Business by telephone from Singapore yesterday.

However, he said that the shareholders will be expecting a much higher price than the Rs. 138 per share that the present shareholders paid at the time of the acquisition in April this year given the fact that the hotel is operating at a profit and the macro fundamentals being all positive, he said.

He conceded there have not been any overtures made to him by any member of the Government but some inquiries have come from stockbrokers, although nothing has been firm or concrete yet.

Since the hotel company is a Colombo Stock Exchange listed corporate, all such inquiries and purchases have to come through the network of stock brokers, he said.