The government has decided to divest seven state-owned enterprises.
They are SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC), Canwill Holdings (Grand Hyatt Colombo), Hotel Developers Lanka (Hilton Hotel Colombo), Litro Gas Lanka, Litro Gas Terminals and Lanka Hospitals.
A SOE restructuring unit (SRU) set up under the Ministry of Finance announced that the cabinet has, in principle, approved the divestiture.
It is in an attempt to implement structural reforms to accelerate growth so that the country can emerge out of the current economic crisis, said the ministry.
The SRU will appoint reputed, qualified and experienced consultancy firms and development financial institutions to provide transaction advisory services to assist with the divestitures.
The process of selecting such transaction advisors is due to commence shortly.
The transaction advisors will, inter-alia, assist the SRU with sell-side due diligence, valuation, data room creation, transaction strategy and marketing of the entities to be divested.
The divestiture programme will be carried out by the SRU in a transparent and credible manner and investor selection will commence with an EOI/RFP process to be published in the local and international press.
The Finance Ministry added these reforms are expected to contribute towards higher economic productivity by reducing market distortions, increasing organizational efficiency and improving the quality of service to the public.
