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EAP companies sale to be finalised by January 4
View(s):The US$ 75mn sale of EAP Group companies to a consortium of foreign investors-led by the Singapore-registered Blue Summit Capital Management Ltd is expected to be tied up by January 4, authoritative sources said.
Another tranche of US$ 10mn from the total sum will show up in the books by tomorrow, they said, adding that US$ 54mn had already been paid. The deal would be concluded by January 4, they confirmed. The full amount was earlier to have been transferred by June 2018.
Blue Summit, a private equity firm, in partnership with the Sri Lankan company Ben Holdings Ltd, will gain full control of the EAP group’s television and radio stations–Swarnavahini, Shree FM, Ranone FM and E FM–as well as Swarnamahal Jewellers, EAP Films and Theatres, Swarnamahal Financial Services and properties like the Sapphire Hotel in Wellawatte.
Off the table is Edirisighe Trust Investments (ETI), the bigger financial company, with its Rs 33bn in liabilities as the investor did not want it. Around 20 percent of these liabilities have been settled by a Central Bank-appointed management committee headed by former Assistant Governor Sepala Ratanayake. This was done with the money already remitted.
However, there is still a significant hole to plug and the full US$ 75mn will only help settle around 30 percent of liabilities, the sources said. “The rest has to be found and if a new investor does not come forward, the assets will have to be liquidated and all depositors paid Rs 600,000 each. The liquidation route has been deemed the “worst case scenario” by the regulator.
Blue Summit Capital Management directors are the Middle Eastern-based entrepreneur and investor Omar Siraj M Qandeel, and Singapore citizen and freight forwarding industry player Cyril Rodrigo. Ben Holdings Ltd is owned by Alex Lovell who is known for bringing private equity firm TPG to revive Union Bank PLC a few years ago.