• Melwa Hotels and Resorts sole bidder for Colombo Hilton ownership
• Evaluation committees to submit findings to Cabinet within a week
• SLIC and Litro Gas privatisation moves forward with shortlisted bidders

The recommendations of the Cabinet-appointed Special Project Committee (SPC) and the Special Cabinet-Appointed Negotiating Committee (SCANC) on the proposal submitted by Melwa Hotels and Resorts Ltd. for Hotel Developers (Lanka) Ltd. (HDL) will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers within a week, according to the State-Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit (SOERU). 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, SOERU Head Suresh Shah revealed that from the four bidders who had been prequalified for the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage for the divestiture of the shares held by the Government in HDL, only Melwa Hotels and Resorts had submitted a proposal.

HDL is the owning company of the Colombo Hilton.

Accordingly, Shah claimed that the bid submitted by Melwa was currently being evaluated by the SPC and the SCANC and that he expected them to submit their recommendations to the Cabinet of Ministers within a week.

Elaborating further, he stated: “There are two committees, the SPC and the SCANC, that are currently evaluating the proposal. Once they have completed their work, they will make a recommendation to the Cabinet. Thereafter the Cabinet will decide what needs to be done.”

Commenting on the ongoing privatisation process of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd. (SLIC) and Litro Gas, he revealed that they had already shortlisted several bidders for the divestiture of the shares held by the Government in both SOEs and that they were currently waiting for the shortlisted bidders to commence buy-side due diligence. 

“In order for the due diligence to be done, we have to allow them into the data room where there is a lot of confidential information. Before that process, before they start accessing that confidential information, they have to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements. Those agreements are currently awaiting signing at the Ministry of Finance. Once they are signed, the bidders can commence their due diligence.”