Jetwing Symphony Limited (JSL) announced the opening of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Thursday, December 14 in a bid to raise Rs. 753 million to Rs. 904 million. JSL intends to offer 50,218,856 ordinary voting shares to the public (a 10 percentage stake) at Rs. 15.00, 16.00, 17.00 and 18.00 per share with Capital Alliance Partners Limited (CAL) as the Manager to the Issue.
Incorporated in 2007, JSL will function as the Jetwing Group’s investment arm for the future. Its current portfolio includes Jetwing Yala (Yala), Jetwing Kaduruketha (Wellawaya), Jetwing Lake (Dambulla), Jetwing Surf (Pottuvil Point) and Jetwing Colombo Seven (Colombo). Funds raised from the IPO will go towards adding a property in Kandy - Jetwing Kandy Gallery - and towards rebalancing the overall gearing mix in some of its properties. The remaining funds will be utilized for debt settlement.
JSL’s current portfolio of hospitality properties offer eco-friendly and locally enriched experiences to Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. Its properties are also strategically located across the island to take advantage of new travel demands while providing travellers a holistic and truly Sri Lankan experience.
“Jetwing’s footprint in tourism has been recognized since the early 1970s – a vision transpired by my father Herbert Cooray to build Sri Lanka as an attractive tourist destination. We are known for our core values of world-class service and our commitment to responsible and sustainable tourism; with many environmental and sustainable initiatives introduced that include reducing our carbon footprint and projects designed for youth and community development such as the Jetwing Youth Development Project, which is a multiple PATA Grand Award winner. We take great pride in nurturing the local community and its landscape, to uplift their livelihood and foster their growth. Our expansion drive will continue to focus on several developments within Sri Lanka and we will also look to establish our presence in regional Asian economies.
Announcing JSL’s IPO is a significant milestone for the Jetwing family and in establishing the future of the Company to grow the local hospitality sector, beyond our shores,” Chairman Jetwing Hotels Hiran Cooray said.
“This is the first time that we will be inviting the public to be a part of our journey.
As tourism is expected to be the largest foreign exchange earner in the next five years, we will be expanding our footprint in the industry. JSL was set up to meet the requirement of one vehicle for growth. There is a possibility that we could move in to other destinations such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar to introduce Sri Lankan hospitality,” he said.
Capital Alliance Partners Limited, Managing Director for Global Markets and Investment Banking Deshan Pushparajah said, “We are pleased to invite the public to participate in a hitherto extremely successful family enterprise.
The Jetwing family and its leadership team are fully invested in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector across disciplines of tours, experiential tourism and hotel management. This breadth of exposure adds significant synergies to JSL. This is evidenced in how JSL’s first property – Jetwing Yala, turned profitable after just 18 months of opening its doors. We are confident this sole ‘pure play’ status in the hospitality and leisure sector will attract like-minded investors.”
Jetwing Symphony recorded a commendable revenue growth of 44.5 percent to Rs. 734.7 million during the financial year 2016/17 in comparison to the Rs. 508.4 million earned during the previous financial year.