State institutions to buy shares to help SLT to comply with free-float rules

The state-run pension fund, insurance company and banks have been given the green light to buy the shares of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), of which the government has a little over 54 percent stake, to comply with the 10 percent minimum public free-float requirement.

A joint Cabinet paper to this end by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Telecommunication, Foreign Employment and Sports Minister Harin Fernando was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers this week. 

The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC), National Savings Bank (NSB), Bank of Ceylon (BOC) and People’s Bank can now buy SLT shares, subject to the approval of their respective director boards.

The Treasury Secretary has a 49.5 percent stake in SLT, while Global Telecommunications Holdings NV, a unit of Malaysia’s Maxis, has 44.98 percent.