Emirates (EK, Dubai International) has denied reports in the Sri Lankan media linking it to a 49% stake in SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International) that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's government has been trying to dispose of.
Last week, local media quoted what were purported to be cabinet minutes of a meeting on June 13 that claimed the Dubai-based operator had shown an interest in the ailing state-owned airline.
However, in a statement to Bloomberg, Emirates denied having shown any such interest. It is recalled that Emirates did, in 1998, acquire a 43.63% stake in SriLankan Airlines as part of a ten-year managerial contract. However, following a falling out between Emirates-installed executives and then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration, the Dubai-based carrier did not renew its contract on its expiration in 2008. It subsequently resold its shareholding back to the SriLankan government in 2010.
For its part, the Sri Lankan government has been desperate to find a suitable buyer for the 49% shareholding. A recent tender managed to attract significant interest from investors around the world only for the preferred bidder, US-based investment firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG), to withdraw citing the airline's difficult financial position.
