Jetwing subsidiary with 4 hotels to go public

Jetwing Symphony, a new subsidiary of the Jetwing Hotels group which is steering the growth of new hotels, plans to offer a stake to the public through the Colombo bourse.

However before that, the company is selling 30 per cent stock in this unit in a private placement (selected buyers) hoping to raise about US$8 million.

"Eventually once this phase is completed, our plan is to go public," noted Jetwing Hotels Chairman Hiran Cooray.

In an interview with the Business Times, Mr. Cooray explained in de- tail the philosophy of a privatelyowned group attracting public involvement in a subsidiary which will own Jetwing Yala; Jetwing Colombo; Jetwing Dambulla and Jetwing Reef -Uppuveli with another property at Arugam Bay, to be added on later.

"The rationale? Jetwing is a company that has evolved over the years and was started by my father. The current goal is, for many reasons, to untangle the new properties from the one ones. In terms of the older hotels, we will leave it as it is (in the main group) as we have traditional partners those who started with my father," he said, adding the company is very bullish on the future.

Of the four properties owned by Jetwing Symphony, two are being built while within the year the other two would start construction - Dambulla and Uppuveli. Yala will be ready by September while Colombo would come on stream by April 2014. He said the group will also manage a hotel in Chennai which is under construction and opens at the end of the year. (See more on the interview

on Page 6)