Shifting goal-posts: Govt. won’t sell Lanka Hospitals
The Government, true to policy inconsistencies and shifting goalposts, has decided against selling its majority stake in Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC (LHCL), industry sources said.
Earlier it was widely reported that the government wanted to exit partially or fully from those non-strategic investments in LHCL, Hotel Developers (Colombo Hilton), Hyatt Residencies, Grand Oriental Hotel, etc.
The latest decision comes on the back of the sale of Bank of Ceylon’s (BOC) 7.5 per cent in Seylan Bank to a Japanese investor being reversed last month. LHCL, previously Apollo Hospitals Colombo, is now indirectly owned by the government with the state owned Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation holding 54.61 per cent stake. Officials were unavailable for comment.
Some months ago two local hospital operators – Hemas and Softlogic Group expressed interest in LHCL. Softlogic said that it’s a lucrative opportunity for the group which controls the Asiri Hospitals group and is the largest listed private hospital group in Sri Lanka in terms of revenue and profits.
Hemas also announced to the Colombo Stock Exchange that as a group it has been exploring opportunities in this sector. “We noted the interest expressed by the Government in disposing of shares in ventures such as LHCL. We have therefore, expressed our interest in pursuing this opportunity once the government initiates the official process,” a Hemas statement, at that time, to the CSE said.