Govt. appoints new Board to Revival Act acquired Hilton Colombo owning firm

• Nadesan reappointed Chairman; Cornel, Japanese excluded

The Government has appointed a new Board of Directors to Hotel Developers (Lanka) Plc the owning company of Hilton Colombo, following the acquisition under the Revival Act passed recently.

The new Board comprises of T. Nadesan as Chairman and Director, V. Kanagasabapathy, Nihal Jayawardene, Tissa Wickramasuriya and Kosala Wickramanayake. They served on the previous Board as well. Among exclusions from the Board prior to takeover were Hilton Colombo promoter Cornel Perera and his wife, nominees of Mitsui and COmpany and Taisei Corporation as well as N Warusavitharana.                       

Hotel Developers, saddled with Rs. 10 billion loss and Rs. 12 billion in debt, was the sole underperforming enterprise listed in the Act. The venture was infested with litigation prior to takeover whilst following the Act there have been fresh litigation by public interest activist Nihal Sri Ameresekere.