MTD Walkers Ltd on Tuesday announced that it had acquired and taken 100 % control of Colombo Engineering Enterprises (CEE), a successful marine engineering company led by well-known businessman Kiran Atapattu, at a price of Rs 275 million. It has been re-branded Colombo Engineering Services Pvt Ltd after the acquisition.
The statement made to the Colombo Stock Exchange said Mr Atapattu has been retained by the company and appointed Head of the Marine Engineering Division, of MTD Walkers PLC with immediate effect.
A company statement said with the acquisition MTD Walkers has re-entered the marine engineering industry and is now the biggest ship repair company in Sri Lanka.
Lal Perera, Chief Operating Officer, MTD Walkers said, “This is a very exciting time in our company’s development. By re-creating this division for marine services we will be able to meet the needs of all marine engineering services required for ships plying our waters. Our acquisition of Colombo Engineering Enterprises will allow us to serve our clients with a dedicated specialist team and the Walkers workshop will add value to manage the complex calculations and operations these projects require.”
The new company will leverage on the existing Walkers’ fully equipped workshop to expand the current services offered by the company. During the past, the lack of proper ship repair services has meant that many of the ships had to bypass the port of Colombo and travel to Singapore.
“With the port of Colombo strategically positioned in the Indian Ocean’s shipping route, it is vital that we have a fully equipped and well managed workshop that will ensure these ships do not bypass us for their repairs. Now we can boast of having one of the best workshops in this region and we intend on expanding the marine engineering sector of Walkers rapidly,” Mr. Perera said in the statement.
MTD Walkers have ventured from its core businesses of the manufacture of tea machinery to other engineering functions such as piling (heavy foundations), steel fabrication and other infrastructure development projects. |
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