PERC to invite bids for Hilton in January

Sri Lanka's privatisation body Thursday said it will invite bids in January for the government's majority stake in Hotel Developers Lanka Ltd. Sri Lanka's privatisation body Thursday said it will invite bids in January for the government's majority stake in Hotel Developers Lanka Ltd. "We are in the process of preparing the offer-for-sale document. We will be ready to call for bids sometime in January," an official at the Public Enterprise Reform Commission told Dow Jones Newswires.

There has been heavy demand for the company's shares in the past few weeks, after a court case preventing the sale of the government's 64% stake was recently resolved.

A strong outlook for the country's tourism industry has also attracted buyers to leisure stocks recently.

Hotel Developers owns the five-star Colombo Hilton.

Analysts say Aitken Spence & Co., which owns hotels in Sri Lanka and the Maldives; garments manufacturer and exporter MAS Holdings, and tea exporter MJF Group are among the parties that have shown interest in the stake.

In its 2005 budget proposals announced last week, the government said it will