Government sells shares in private tourism company

The Privatisation and Corporatisation Board (PCB) said on Thursday that the government has sold its stake in a company called Celo Holdings, which has been awarded an island to develop tourist resort.

The ministry of finance announced twice in February 2023 that it would seek a bidder to value the shares of Celo Holdings.

The PCB said the shares were sold in a report detailing the board's work over the past six months.

In November 2016, Celo Holdings was formed as a joint venture company with a 10% stake in the government and a 90% stake in Kanimeedhoo Holdings.

According to the announcement made by the finance ministry last year, Kanimeedhoo Holdings decided to buy the government's stake in Celo to facilitate borrowing from banks.

Kanimeedhoo Holdings and Celo Holdings have the same shareholders.

The company's name belongs to Th. Kanimeedhoo, an island outside Veymandoo. The government put 10 hectares of land in the uninhabited island on a cross-subsidy basis in 2019 to develop the resort.

The government later decided to build an airport in the island of Vilufushi and lease Kanimeedhoo to develop the resort.