Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-08-01

Restructure of the ownership of the Hilton Hotel

- The Hilton Hotel in Colombo managed by the Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC fully owned by the government has been identified by the budget proposal of 2016, as a non‑strategic state owned enterprise which could be considered for private investment with the divestment of government ownership. In order to proceed with the necessary investment for the future development of this hotel, the private sector investor involvement could motivate the private sector investments and the funds owned by the government could be utilized for other purposes of social and economic importance.

Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Kabir Hashim, the Minister of Public Enterprise Development, to provide the opportunity for the investors selected to present bids at a special board of the Colombo Share Market, to transfer 51% of the shares of the Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC to a suitable investor, to set apart 4% of the shares of the company to its employees and the balance shares of 45% to be sold at a fixed price at the Colombo Stock Exchange, was approved by the Cabinet.