Minister of Telecommunications & Digital Infrastructure Harin Fernando effectively put a maximum payable price on the proposal for Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) to purchase the troubled telecommunications service provide, Hutch.
Harin
Fernando addressing an SLT gathering with Mobitel personnel in the audience, claimed that both he and SLT/Mobitel Chairmn, Kumarasinghe Sirisena, were being treated ‘like punching bags’ over the proposed ‘Hutch Deal’
“We are trying to buy 100 million Phase 7 project at 95 million,” he said. Fernando in fact insisted “A 100 million project was never even cited at me.”
Colombo Telegraph revealed that there are moves to purchase Hutch at approximately US $ 50 million (over Rs 7 billion) beyond what would be a reasonable price.
Fernando does not contradict the claim since all he has said is that SLT was trying to purchase at 95 million (he does not mention the currency). That would in effect be an initial “low-end” proposal, which means that the amount could be much higher at the point of purchase.
Whether or not Fernando was aware of the Chairman’s machinations, this statement puts a lid on the price, making it politically disastrous for a purchase exceeding US $ 100 million (approximately Rs 140 billion). The original plan, as Colombo Telegraph revealed was to “reach an agreement close to US $ 140 million”.
Related posts;
Exposé: President Sirisena In The Thick Of A Multi Billion Kickback Scandal
K.A Sumanasekera / November 27, 2015
Hutchy’ss Mother Board is only fetching 2.75 a piece . And it is in Hong Kong Dollars .
Even USD 100 Mil is a colossal sum of money to pay for a struggling Telco , when SL is is well catered for by several good Service providers.
M & A s are stitched up by Investment Banks with the connivance of the company bosses to make mo not ney for both .
Public companies , specially the ones in third world are easy targets, because the bosses running them are not up to speed.
And are not responsible for failures.
Also there are no smart Boards to watch them.
What would Harin & Kumara sira know about next generation of Digital Technology, , let alone the current sate of affairs.
Wonder whether these Dudes have heard about Tech Wreck ?..
Wonder who organized the Dummy bid of Lycamobil?..
If Harin is smart, he should have forced Sira to sell the SLT share to them.
/
anonymous / November 27, 2015
“Wonder who organized the Dummy bid of Lycamobil?..”
Hello Sumane,
If you are keen, read these news items about ‘Lyca Mobile’. Harin is no saint either.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/lycamobile/
/
Kalupahana / November 27, 2015
SLT is a joke! I had it for some years and switched to Dialog because SLT sold us its MEGAline which included, Telephone, Internet and PIO Cable TV as a package. Fact is once PIO TV came on Telephone stopped working and internet was down. The Fiber optic cables in Central Colombo were bad.
The service to fix the mega line was worse. After we cancelled SLT and returned the equipment and got dialog we continued to get bills for a year from SLT and now they say that we owe them millions and sent a lawyers letter. SLT is a big joke so what’s the need to buy bankrupt Hutch?!
Let Hutch go under – rather than load an expensive white elephant onto an already floundering SLT which the tax payer will have to bail out after Mr. Sirisena skims his billions worth of corruption!
/
Josh / November 27, 2015
you think dialog is any better? default one payment and see how you get treated.. I was billed LKR 3000 with call charges for a connection that i never even activated.
All telco operators in the country are like this. No one is better than the other. All are profit focused and wouldnt let go even if they can charge 1 cent additionally.
/
Amden / November 28, 2015
Rajitha had called him a funny name(Olubakka) and Wijedasa “Boru Kakul Karaya”.
When you look at them both, the call is not unreasonble!
However, Rajitha’s son Chathura looks like a “kavaiyya!.
/
upul / November 27, 2015
Harin is a clueless young man, when it comes to governance. He is extremely likeable and very nice chap but that does not make him ministerial material.
The reason why all the new ministers have acquired the crooks who ran the last regime as advisors is because they have no clue on what needs to happen legitimately and more importantly, behind the scenes.
The racketeers are the experts in greasing the palms and oiling the wheels of power. Ranil W has known this the longest and Ayyo Sirisena is just learning the ropes. As in the United States, UK and Europe, little Sri Lanka needs the facilitators and legislators at the same time. The problem we have is that our legislators are a bunch of idiots and morons. Therefore they do not even understand what they are saying in Parliament let alone what the other person is talking about.
That is how Ravi K thought he could hood-wink everyone including his people by presenting an imitation budget with projections plucked out of thin air. Increase this, increase that, and decrease this. Where the hell the money was going to come for this and that, no hum.
The JVP on the other hand have essentially become the empty vessel. Everything is wrong but no counter proposal from their side. Throwing stones is the easiest task. Why not try to make a difference. Surely, there has to be an ounce of honesty left in all of our politicians.
Is that too much to ask?
/
NAK / November 27, 2015
“Is that too much to ask?”
It certainly appears so, don’t you think?
/
BBS Rep / November 30, 2015
Upul,
You ask, ‘Surely, there has to be an ounce of honesty left in all of our politicians.’
Sorry to disappoint you Upul, no, our politicians don’t even have a milligram of honesty in them, leave alone an ounce.
/
Amarasiri / November 27, 2015
Minister of Telecommunications & Digital Infrastructure Harin Fernando
“Colombo Telegraph revealed that there are moves to purchase Hutch at approximately US $ 50 million (over Rs 7 billion) beyond what would be a reasonable price.”
All Liars and Crooks. Want to pat $100 million , for something worth $50 Million and pocket $50 Million?
Sirisenas expelled good governance gentlemen in order to gobble up Rs.11400 million !
Some time ago , president Miathripala Sirisena told ‘ I asked the prime minister to remove Arjuna Mahendran because I am being vilified’ over the alleged involvement of Arjuna Mahendran in the issue of Central bank treasury bills even when it could not be said for sure there had been a fraud , just because a hue and cry was raised that there has been a Rs. 5000 million fraud . Now the people are keenly watching what president Maithripala Sirisena is going to say in regard to the calculated fraud of his own younger brother who is getting ready to gobble up Rs. 11400 million .The masses are earnestly anticipating the day the president will tell his younger brother to resign.
Meanwhile, efforts to get more information in this regard from Harin Fernando the Digital minister in charge of SLT and Mobitel proved futile. It is a matter for regret that Harin Fernando since the day he was appointed as minister , appears to have forgotten to receive incoming calls. Perhaps Harin Fernando who answered phone calls most profusely and anxiously during the period of elections and paraded as a paragon of virtue is now unable to speak because some amount of filthy lucre of Rs. 11400 million had been thrust into his cavernous mouth too until he was choked.
/
Wera / November 27, 2015
It does not appear to be a lid on anything. If he wants to come clean explain how three key board members of Mobitel brought in to stop any underhand deals engineered by Kumarasinghe were removed. How come Krishantha Cooray Thusitha Haloluwa and Sharook Fero were removed and Wegapitiya inserted into the Mobitel board. Does he think that the public are all simpletons like himself who cannot understand what he has been up to. Both Harin and Kumarasinghe have no knowledge or experience of the subject they handle accept how to make do the dirty to make money for themselves. The best question to ask is why do you need to buy Hutch at all. Let it go bankrupt. Your competitor is going bankrupt and you want to save it by buying it for a huge mark up. Sounds too stupid to be true.
/
K.A Sumanasekera / November 27, 2015
Thanks Mate.
You said it..
Galleon Accountant ‘s BIL, I believe is looking after the interests of the Insurance Corporation..
/
Dude / November 27, 2015
There is no need for a Hutch deal at all. SLT should first put its house in order and provide customers who are leaving the company a good service instead of trying to get new customers via Hutch to cover up the fact that SLT is losing customers due to poor service.
/
Chuti Putha / November 27, 2015
Reason they appointed Fernando because he is a clueless man with no exposure to Corporate world, he is good to win elections from UVA where the poverty level is very low, He wouldnt come to Colombo or Gampaha and win election. Also if they appoint a clever experience Minister for the Telecom post then things would get bitter where lot of resistance would remain. So go with the flow Harin Fernando, you know there is padding up of the amount and you know where the money will be going ( cut ) but you remain silence and cannot do anything. In simple words you are a puppet.
/
susith / November 28, 2015
This HK telco is in the stock market in HK and UK t4 they cant give Sirisena a big cut back like 50m US$ without informing the stock exchanges.
/
EDWIN RODRIGO / November 28, 2015
What would be the accepted method to find out a fair price for such a deal? How much would Mobitel or Dialog pay for such a deal?
/
sacre blieu / November 28, 2015
Going through the comments, it appears that the deals and corruption still goes on stealthily. Hutch is, unfortunately, a dying company due to strange things having been allowed to happen, and the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority is even more strangely silent. Will there be an end to see a complete breakdown of function soon.
/
ravin / November 29, 2015
Looks like Harin the clean skin is heavily involved with Groucho Marx Kumarasinghes nefarious schemes, to make a fast buck by buying at exhorbitent prices, Hutch a company in its dying days. Well you see how greedy selfish “Ravula kumarasinghe” the fellow with lots of meaningless letters all Local, with no experience in Telecom and cant even speak in the Queens English is fast becoming a Tsar that would soon put Gota, Namal,and a whole lot of MARA financial manipulators to shame. And Aiyo Sira makes all sorts of appointments of various crooks that have been spotlighted by the Weliamuni report like Chandrasena that sucked the lifeblood off Sri Lankan Airlines to important positions in the country. Hey Harin you as Minister, Know nothing about Telecom nor about high finance and the world of stocks and shares. Don’t pose off as a pundit because you won a Uva election you are not an expert on anything except to play politics and take care of your backside. In fact you an unreliable bullshit artist and fraud. We have more reliance on Ranjan Ramanayake who is honest and don’t pose off as an expert on anything
/
Gunadasa / November 29, 2015
Thank you Ravin for your post re these frauds in the Kumarasinghe, Harin Ministry who are taking people for a ride. These guys are there to feather their financial nests rather than develop our Telecom set up that needs more managiarial expertise and technocrats at the top than money hungry parasites.It is just plain disgusting the way President Sirisena is behaving re appointing all sorts of shady characters that have been proven rip off merchants to positions that are of vital importance to the financial and social wellbeing of our country. From unelected failed rejects being appointed to Ministries and . All sorts of con men made his so called advisers.What really bugs us that Ranil the so called gentleman democrat watches all this shit being hitting the fan while he remains mum. A good example is Arjuna Ranatunga a Minister incharge of Ports who knows F all about Ports and he appoints an uneducated nincompoop of a brother with zero qualifictions to be its chairman. Open your bloody mouth for a change and show your So called Colours as a Royalist not to be second to Polonaruwa Gamaralas.
/
R.K / November 29, 2015
We are reading about so much of coruption in YAHAPALANAYA. Politicians are the least bothered about all this information. Whats happening to RIGHT TO INFORMATION BILL. There should be a strong public body to take all these people to task. Who will organise it.
/
Common Sense / December 1, 2015
The excuse to purchase hutch was to get the frequency used by it for mobtiel’s use. Frequencies were given to Hutch. Mobitel becomes the shareholder of Hutch. Can Mobitel use Hutch’s Frequencies? For that matter can the parent company like SLT use Mobtiel’s Frequencies? Hutch is a distinct personality and frequencies were given for its use. If circumstances change such as virtually dissolving the company and altering the customer base etc. does not the regulator take away the frequencies and zonal codes attached to the company and offer it to others on a competitive basis?
There seems to be something wrong with the Regulatory Structure in the Telecom sector of Sri Lanka. In the first place, Companies are given licenses to operate services because there is a demand for services which other existing service providers cannot meet and thereby increase competition, which is a cure for most of the illnesses in the commercial world. Now does the system permit one license holder to gobble another and reduce the competition?
THE WHOLE THING STINKS. THE YOUNG MINISTER MUST GET SEASONED PEOPLE’S OPINION AS TO WHY THIS COCKEYED METHOD OF GOBBLING AND RESOURCES PINCHING MUST TAKE PLACE AND IN THE PROCESS FILL THE POCKETS.
/