Sri Lanka Spence Hotel seeks funds for expansion

Feb 19, 2010 9LBO) Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings said it plans a rights issue to raise funds for future expansion as the island’s tourist industry recovers from the effects of a long war. The company said in a stock exchange filing that it plans to make a rights issue of one new ordinary share for every four ordinary shares held by shareholders at an issue price of 260.00 rupees.

Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings shares are now trading at 420 rupees.

The company said it plans to issue another 9,608,286 ordinary shares.

The purpose of the rights issue is to raise about 2.5 billion rupees as capital to finance future investments, it said.

The firm’s current stated capital is 1,055 million rupees.

The company, a subsidiary of the Aitken Spence group, owns or manages a chain of hotels in Sri Lanka, the Maldive Islands, India and Oman.

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals have increased sharply since its 30-year ethnic war ended last May and most hotels have been reporting full occupancy in the winter season.