The Sri Lankan government is to transfer the management and 40% ownership of state-owned Cooperative Wholesale Establishment’s retail unit to a consortium led by Ceylon Biscuits later this month.

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The consortium won the bid in July for the Sathosa retail unit at a cost of around 700m Sri Lankan rupees (US$7.24m), but the handover was delayed for several weeks.


“We needed more time to conclude discussions on a detailed development plan…the process is moving forward and we hope to close the deal in about two weeks,” Ravi Karunanayake, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs was quoted by Dow Jones International News as saying.


Sathosa currently has 157 retail outlets across the country but Karunanayake said the consortium is expected to expand the chain to 300 outlets by 2005.

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