Browns Beach Hotel to be Demolished. A New 200 Room Hotel on the Location in Negombo, Sri Lanka

28th November 2010, www.sundaytimes.lk

The Browns Beach Hotel, one of the landmark tourism beach properties on the west coast, will be demolished by end March 2011 and a new 200-room built on the same location, Aitken Spence Hotels which manages the property said.

“The hotel is about 40 years and needs a change. The Browns Board took a decision to build a new resort on this location which would (probably) go by the same name,” said Malin Hapugoda, Managing Director, Aitken Spence Hotels, adding that it could take about two years to complete construction. According to a statement issued to the Colombo Stock Exchange, the hotel will cease to operate from March 31 after which construction will begin.

It said it was offering a rights issue to shareholders to raise almost Rs 2.2 billion to finance the construction. The rights issue will be on the basis of seven shares for every two shares held, at Rs 65 per share, working out to 33 million shares on offer.