Melstacorp, Aitken Spence launch Rs. 30 exit offer for Browns Beach Hotel delisting

Melstacorp PLC and Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC have officially launched their exit offer to acquire the remaining shares of Browns Beach Hotels PLC, paving the way for the company’s delisting from the Colombo Stock Exchange. 

The offer document details the arrangement to purchase shares from minority shareholders at an exit price of Rs. 30 per share. The acceptance period for the offer officially opened yesterday, May 5, and will conclude at 4.30 p.m. on June 5.

The exit offer of Rs. 30 per share presents a notable premium for minority investors compared to recent trading metrics and financial standing. 

The company reported a negative net asset value per share of Rs. 5.75 as of the end of December 2025. Before the stock’s recent suspension from the trading floor, the highest traded price for the December 2025 quarter was Rs. 28.10, while the closing price stood at Rs. 25.10. Determined by an independent valuation conducted by BDO Partners, the Rs. 30 offer sits well above the volume-weighted average price of Rs. 18.58 recorded over the preceding year and outpaces the relative valuation of Rs. 20.89 derived from the enterprise value to the EBITDA ratio.

The property holds a significant place in the history of Negombo’s hospitality sector. 

Its modern era was shaped by the late Deshamanya D.H.S. Jayawardena, under whose visionary leadership the original Browns Beach Hotel was demolished and redeveloped into the luxury five-star Heritance Negombo, which opened in 2016. The 139-room resort, sprawling across 6.5 acres of beachfront land, was subsequently rebranded in 2023 as Sentido Heritance Negombo through a franchise partnership with DER TOURISTIK HOTELS GmbH of Germany, a move aimed at attracting long-haul European travellers.

Following shareholder approval secured at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on April 10, the majority shareholders have initiated this final phase of the transaction to take the hospitality firm private. Consequently, the company’s name will change to Browns Beach Hotels Limited upon the successful completion of the delisting process. Minority shareholders opting to accept the offer must submit their completed transfer forms through their respective stockbrokers or custodian banks to the Central Depository Systems before the June deadline. According to the offer document, payment for the accepted shares will be settled on or before June 12, which marks the thirtieth market day from the record date.

The exit offer is fundamentally aimed at the genuine public minority shareholders, representing a public float of just 9.09 percent. The controlling block driving the delisting is led by the formal offerors, Melstacorp PLC with a 41.88 percent stake, and Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC holding 36.62 percent. Their parent corporate group’s collective holding is further solidified by related entities, including Stassen Exports (Pvt) Limited at 9.82 percent, Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) Limited with 0.97 percent, and Milford Exports (Ceylon) (Pvt) Limited at 0.59 percent. Conversely, the true minority investors now presented with this exit opportunity include prominent retail and institutional portfolios outside that group, such as People’s Leasing & Finance PLC accounts held by Dr. H.S.D. Soysa and G. Soysa at 0.66 percent,  L.P. Hapangama at 0.56 percent, M.D.K. Perera with 0.44 percent, and V.R. Jayasinghe with a 0.41 percent stake.(NF)