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A large foreign investment deal has been signed for the shares of five-star hotel Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa Limited of Cox’s Bazar, which is listed in the capital market.
Stock market regulator Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has given nod to this share trading agreement recently. According to the agreement, Luxembourg-based investment company GEM Global Yield LLC SCS will purchase the shares of Sea Pearl Beach Resort for Tk 350 crore.
On October 18, the commission has approved the company’s share purchase agreement (SPA). Sources in the BSEC said the Commission has given conditional approval to the share purchase agreement in view of Sea Pearl Beach Resort’s application on October 2.
However, the shares will be be traded outside the main market with the Luxembourg-based investment company being allowed to hold a maximum of 9.9 percent of Sea Pearl’s shares.
It has also been instructed that every time the shares are sold, an announcement must be made to BSEC as well as the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange.
Besides, the shareholders of the company shall sell the shares to GEM Global at a discounted price of 10 percent of the weighted average price of the next 15 working days from the date of the announcement of share sale.
Meanwhile, two placement holder institutions and one general shareholder of Sea Pearl Beach Resort have jointly agreed to sell shares to GEM Global. These institutions and individuals collectively hold 1,62,44,566 shares of Sea Pearl.
Among them, placement holder Bengal Vacation Club Limited holds 1,19,40,296 shares and Venus Builders Limited holds 26,37,961 shares. According to the BSEC terms, the stake will be sold to GEM Global in four phases over the next one year.
It is reported that GEM Global Yield LLC SCS has a large chunk of investments in companies listed on the capital markets of different countries around the world. For the past few years, foreigners have been withdrawing investment from Bangladesh’s capital market due to fear of further currency devaluation.
GEM Global is investing heavily in shares of Sea Pearl at a time when the country is facing a severe dollar crisis. This latest investment by GEM Global is expected to help entrepreneurs expand their businesses. The entrepreneurs, however, said they will take up new projects to reduce dependence on bank loans.
In this regard, Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa Limited’s Managing Director Md. Aminul Haque Shamim said Luxembourg-based GEM Global Yield has investments of billions of dollars in different countries of the world except for Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“The foreign company started investing in Bangladesh through Sea Pearl. Shares worth Tk 350 crore will be sold to GEM Global. Tk 100 crore debt will be paid from this money. Apart from this, there will be a new investment of Tk 100 crore. The remaining money has been planned for investment in various sectors including the capital market.”
It can be noted that the five-star Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa Limited is established on 25 acres of land at Inani Beach in Cox’s Bazar. Opened on 17 September 2015, the hotel has 493 rooms and suites. In addition, various facilities including 9 restaurants, 3 bars, 6 meeting and convention venues, 2 swimming pools, tennis and badminton courts have taken Cox’s Bazar to the top of the country’s luxury resorts.
In January of this year, Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa was recognised as the best beach side luxury resort in the world by choosing from among the best luxury hotels across the world. For that reason, Sea Pearl won the World Luxury Hotel Awards. Among other laurels, the five-star hotel also won the Best Beach Side Luxury Hotel Award as well as the Best Luxury Spa Award.
Messenger/Sajib
