Singhe Capital Investment (Pvt) Ltd said yesterday (5) it acquired 50.31% of Sinhaputhra Finance Plc for a consideration of Rs. 301 million.

Meanwhile, In a disclosure to Colombo Stock Exchange, Sinhaputra Finance Limited noted that 31,675,870 ordinary shares of the company held by K.R.B Wijeyeratne, which consists of 50.31% of the total voting rights were sold to Singhe Capital Investment on December 5, 2019, at a price of  Rs. 9.50 each.

K.R.B Wijeyeratne is the major shareholder and the Managing Director and CEO of Sinhaputhra Finance PLC.

The transaction was concluded following the approval of the Central Bank.

The central bank issued a notice to cancel the license of Sinhaputhra Finance in July. However, the company filed objections as provided by law, saying they were in talks with an investor and submitted a capital augmentation plan in July and August.

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had accepted the strategy in September and decided not to proceed with the cancellation of the license.

Sinhaputhra then said in a stock exchange filing that a capital plan backed by an investor who has demonstrated financial credibility of meeting the regulatory capital requirement was presented to the Monetary Board.

Bimputh Finance PLC holds 19.93% stake and is the second-largest shareholder of the company.

Six months ended on 30 September 2019, SFL made a profit of Rs. 22.47 million in comparison to Rs. 23.9 million a year earlier. In the second quarter, it was Rs. 12.6 million, up from Rs. 10.3 million a year ago.

Sinhaputhra is a 40-year old finance company and, over the entirety of its existence, has been concerned with maintaining the trust and loyalty of its valued fixed deposit holders.