On behalf of Selendiva Investments, I welcome you to our official company website. I hope it meets your expectations, provides clarity on areas that are of your interest, and paves the way for you to discover further about our purpose, services, and aspirations.

Selendiva Investment is a newly established entity that opened its doors to potential investors such as yourself in the year 2020. Young, but rich in expertise, our entity was set up with the aim to transform state-owned enterprises into commercially viable and financially independent enterprises to make them productive, thereby contributing to the national economy.

Selendiva Investments is a limited liability company incorporated under the Company Act No 7 of 2007 with a Board of Directors appointed by the Government Treasury to achieve the above objective. Selendiva is equipped with a multidisciplinary team of highly skilled professionals who steer the company by providing the necessary guidance and leadership.

The transformational effort will be carried out by adopting the Private Public Partnership (PPP) model for the capital restructure to attract investment to adopt good governance and globally accepted management strategies to compete with the industry players. We are confident that our strategy will bring about value enhancement to the asset portfolios, thereby making Colombo a top tourist destination in the South Asia region, whilst boosting investor confidence.

With the formation of Selendiva Investments, we hope to revive underperforming and underutilized ventures and help unleash their full potential.

To raise capital, a PPP model will be facilitated through the launch of holding ‘Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) under Selendiva Investments for separate clusters of portfolios. The initial SPV for the Hospitality & Leisure, under the banner ‘Selendiva Leisure Investments Ltd.’ has already been established to raise capital for the development and revival of three properties in the Government-owned hospitality sector. The properties are; 1) Canwill Holdings (Pvt) Ltd – owners of Grand Hyatt Hotel Colombo, 2) Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC – owners of Hilton Colombo, and 3) Hotels Colombo (1963) Ltd – owners of Grand Oriental Hotel.

As per the current plans, other SPVs will be established to attract investments for a real estate development portfolio and the creation of a ‘Heritage Square’ in Colombo Fort.

The investment model was adopted with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 25 May 2021 to divest up to 49 percent of the shares of each Holding SPV and its asset portfolios by Public and Private placement to raise the required capital

Plans are underway for Selendiva Leisure Investments Limited to be listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to raise initial capital to move forward with the development plans for the Hotels and Leisure portfolio. Opportunities will also be explored to attract private investment up to 49 percent of the share capital of the asset portfolio to enhance value and reach the full potential of development so that returns to shareholders can be maximized.

Furthermore, the investment strategy is also expected to bring state-of-the-art management of the assets along with knowledge sharing to enhance the local skill potential and creation of employment. I believe this would also create the right platform for a successful Private Public Partnership model as adopted in several other regional countries.

I am confident that the reforming exercise would improve the operational and performance standards of these properties, which would make them strong contenders to compete with the private sector. Overall we believe that the transformation of the assets would also uplift the standard and quality of Sri Lanka’s hospitality and leisure sector.

The goal is to further boost the utilization potential of this prime asset that sits at the heart of Colombo’s business center, whilst generating revenue and achieving a healthy Return on Investment (ROI).

Another important milestone we intend to achieve will be to create a new vibrant tourism segment in the heart of Colombo Fort with the creation of a Heritage Square by restoring the rich heritage of colonial properties over 100 years of history and exhibit our olden times to attract leisure tourism to Colombo. This segment will also include vibrant activities in the city with a busy nightlife, high street shopping, world-class dining options, and most importantly the establishment of a cruise terminal with direct access to the Heritage Square. The properties to which we intend to attract investment will benefit from the new segment in terms of maximizing their returns through viable investment models.

With this transformation of Heritage Square, we are confident that Colombo will increase its appeal to the evolving tourism market, which in turn will boost foreign exchange income and economic growth, thus aligning with the vision of President Rajapaksa.

We are also affirmative that the existing city hotels will benefit from this far-sighted vision and that new entrants of international five-star hotels into the Colombo city hotel market will be encouraged.

As the Chairman of Selendiva Investments, I am positive that the new business model will provide effective and transparent governance, thereby boosting investor confidence and the ease of doing business.

In line with the Government’s preference for a Private Public Partnership (PPP) over the privatization of State-owned entities, our business model will retain state ownership of a majority stake in the holding company and allow the public to own shares in State-owned entities.

I foresee that the obligation to comply with the CSE’s stringent regulations and reporting requirements will lead to good governance and accountability, thus eliminating the inherent inefficiencies of State-owned entities.

We aim that the vision of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be realized through this initiative where State-owned assets will eventually start paying dividends on investment and turn around to be valuable revenue streams to the Government as opposed to demanding regular intervention for financing from the Treasury.

The funds could now be diverted to development activities that can bring quantitative and qualitative benefits to the country.

In conclusion, I would like to thank all our stakeholders for their unstinted support over this much-needed strategic initiative of the Government of Sri Lanka. I do not doubt in my heart that we, as a nation, will successfully overcome the challenges that confront us by turning them into opportunities for sustainable growth.

As the Chairman of Selendiva Investments, I am honoured and thrilled to spearhead the entity to reach greater prosperity with a group of top experts who are leaders in their respected fields.

Thank you
Sirinimal Perera