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| Sunday, 21 December 2003 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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49% of Sathosa Wholesale to come under the hammer Following the success of divesting the retail arm of Sathosa, plans are now being made by the Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to divest a 49 per cent stake in Sathosa Wholesale Ltd, the country's largest wholesale establishment, the Ministry announced in a news release. Investors will get full management control for a period of five years and will also have the right of first refusal when a further 20 per cent stake is sold later. The wholesale arm has six warehouses with a total capacity of 150,000 square feet, which will be leased to the company, six packing units with a total packing capacity of 120MT per day and a fleet of 80 lorries. The warehouses are located in Colombo, Galle, Buttala, Kurunegala, Polannaruwa and Vavuniya and the packing units are attached to these. A Cabinet-approved restructuring committee, comprising representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, Treasury, Public Enterprise Reforms Commission and the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment will overlook the transaction. KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton and Co has been appointed as the financial advisers to the transaction and National Wealth Corporation is acting as the debt restructuring specialist. A business proposal including a financial bid has to be submitted by December 29. Meanwhile, Minister Ravi Karunanayake said this would lead towards better management of the wholesale arm of Sathosa, resulting in a better service to the suppliers and buyers on the same lines as Sathosa Retail. However, he said, the divestiture process will go through rigorous scrutiny as with the privatisation of the management process and selling the 40 per cent stake of Sathosa Retail Ltd, with a view to gaining maximum returns for the Government. |
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