Melwa, sole bidder for Hilton Colombo; Deal’s finality still pending

Tuesday, 16 July 2024 01:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Melwa Hotels & Resorts Ltd. remains the sole bidder for Hotel Developers (Lanka) Ltd., (HDL), the owning company of the Colombo Hilton and the deal is still pending, the SOE Restructuring Unit (SRU) revealed yesterday.

Melwa was among nine responses received and subsequent to evaluation by the Cabinet appointed Special Project Committee (SPC) and the Special Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee (SpCANC), four bidders were prequalified for the Request for Proposal (RfP) stage.

RfPs were called for from the prequalified bidders on 2 May 2024. During the buy-side due diligence, two of the prequalified bidders withdrew from the divestiture process. Meanwhile, the deadline for the submission of proposals ended at 2 p.m. on Wednesday 10 July.

“Of the two remaining prequalified bidders, only one, Melwa Hotels & Resorts Ltd., submitted an offer. This offer will now be evaluated by the SPC and SpCANC against the terms and conditions set out in the RfP and in accordance the Special Guidelines on Divestiture of State-Owned Enterprises as approved by the Cabinet of Ministers,” SRU said.

“During the evaluation process, the SpCANC has the mandate to further discuss this offer with the proposer. Thereafter, the recommendation of SpCANC will be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for its decision,” it added.

The Government acting through the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry on 10 October 2023 called for Expression of Interest (EoI) from interested parties for the

divestiture of the shares held by GoSL in Hotel Developers (Lanka) Ltd. (HDL), the owning company of the Colombo Hilton.

Colliers International Consultancy and Valuation (Singapore) Ltd. is the Transaction Advisor acting alongside Platinum Advisors for this divestiture.