Report : SriLankan buy out from Emirates deal finalized

A reputed Sri Lankan business website, LBO, has reported that the Government of Sri Lanka has reached a deal with Emirates Airline to buy out the latter’s stake in SriLankan Airlines.
The stake will be bought out by state owned Bank of Ceylon ( BOC ) and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation. A source close to the deal had claimed a price of around $60 million for the transaction.
Nishantha Wickramasinghe, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, is quoted saying “The deal has been finalized”.
A senior official at the treasury had stated that the deal will be linked this month.
It is likely that the government is buying out only a part of the Emirates’ 43.6% stake since Emirates itself had bought out the stake for $70 million back in 1998. Emirates was quoted back in 2008 demanding around $150 million for a sale of the full stake.
SriLankan is about to take delivery of a new A330 soon .

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