With the expectation of expanding his business empire, Electronic Media giant Rayynor Silva continued his trend of acquiring major companies in Sri Lanka. Yesterday, he bought a further 5 million shares of the most diversified blue chip, Hayleys PLC, for Rs. 525 million.
According to market details, Silva was among a select group of buyers of Hayleys PLC, which saw 10 million shares sold for Rs. 1 billion. Of that, 6.7 million shares were done via crossings at Rs. 105 per share.
Following yesterday’s acquisition, the Electronic Media giant now holds 20.1 million shares, equivalent to a 2.6% stake in Hayleys PLC. With this percentage of shares, Silva became the second largest individual shareholder behind one of the leading business tycoons, Dhammika Perera, who holds a 51% stake or 382.6 million shares of the company.
Meanwhile, between the months of April and May, Silva managed to become the third largest shareholder. Staying behind Perera, the trustees of the D.S. Jayasundera Trust hold the second-largest stake in Hayleys with 11.6%.
Silva caught the attention of the finance world last year after acquiring 10% of shares to become the second largest shareholder of Sampath Bank, which is the third biggest private sector bank. He acquired 12 million shares at between Rs. 56 and Rs. 58 per share for around Rs. 700 million via his venture, Phantom Investments Ltd., and held 117.27 million shares in Sampath Bank, accounting for a 10% stake. The biggest shareholder at Sampath Bank is Dhammika Perera-controlled Vallibel One, with a 14.95% stake.
In recent times, Silva has shown a keen interest in acquiring a considerable percentage of top companies in Sri Lanka. This trend is continuing and shows a pattern similar to what Perera followed to become one of the top businessmen in the country. Meanwhile, most of Silva’s latest acquisitions were of companies largely dominated by Perera’s majority ownership, indicating that Silva is following in the footsteps of Perera.
