LOLC seeks Rs.4bn funding for leisure operations
Lanka Orix Leasing Company PLC is planning to raise Rs.4 billion to refurbish a coastal resort complex that will become Sri Lanka’s biggest of its kind, according to a Bloomberg newswire report.
The report quoted LOLC group chief executive Kapila Jayawardena as saying that the firm is currently seeking ‘long term project’ funding from both domestic and foreign banks.
He was also quoted as saying that currently the company is in the process of finalizing a 10-year agreement with ‘one of the largest hotel operators in the world’ to run its hotels located along the southern part of the country, which is known as the ‘Golden Mile’.
LOLC Group, forayed into the leisure sector with its leisure arm LOLC Leisure acquiring Confifi Group hotels in 2010, namely, Hotel Riverina, Club Palm Bay and Eden Resort & Spa. Currently Hotel Riverina and Club Palm Bay have been closed for extensive renovation and are scheduled to be opened in 2013.
“We see huge potential in leisure, similar to Thailand.
There is now a different economic landscape in Sri Lanka after the dawn of peace” Jayawardena was quoted as saying.
LOLC Leisure has also acquired Tropical Villas, previously owned by Jetwings and Hayleys, located alongside the other three properties, which is also under extensive refurbishment.
Meanwhile, LOLC recently bought a high-end villa type resort in Dickwella located in the southern most strip of the island for Rs.1 billion.
With this acquisition, LOLC now has about 625 rooms in the southern part of the country, which places the firm among the largest resort-owning companies in the country.