Set to acquire majority stake in UBC in maiden foray into Sri Lanka's financial services industry

Nepalese Forbes-listed billionaire Binod Chaudhary announced the acquisition of majority shares in UBC (United Bank of Colombo), Sri Lanka. With this, the CG Corp Global group makes its maiden foray into the financial services industry in Sri Lanka. The acquisition of 70.84% shares in UBC is via CG Capital Partners, a private equity company incorporated in Singapore under the umbrella of CG Corp Global. When the transaction was announced to the Colombo Stock Exchange on December 1, 2022, the Bank’s share gained 13.3% to close at LKR 8.50. UBC is among Sri Lanka’s twelve listed banks with a market capitalisation of LKR 9.1 billion.

Chaudhary made a significant investment in 2001 in the iconic Taj Samudra Colombo through a joint venture with Indian Hotels Corporation Limited (IHCL) in the middle of Sri Lanka’s debilitating war. While other investors were unwilling to consider any investment, Chaudhary saw opportunity in the war-torn country, a gesture appreciated not just by the government at the time, but the industry at large. This investment was also Chaudhary’s first-ever investment in the hospitality industry, and today, the group has a partnership with IHCL across 11 properties in 06 countries.
 “At this moment, Sri Lanka is going through very tough times and struggling to mobilise foreign funds and investments even through the IMF,” said Chairman CG Corp Global & Nepal’s Top Industrialist Binod Chaudhary. “Banks are under tremendous pressure as are the borrowers. And yet again despite all these economic setbacks, we have decided to take a plunge into Sri Lanka. We know it’s going to be tough, but that’s the extent of confidence and our deep-rooted close ties with Sri Lanka,” he said of his investment into the eighth largest listed bank in Sri Lanka. 

Featured in the Forbes Billionaire’s Rich List since 2013, Chaudhary has a long-standing friendship with Sri Lanka. The initial foray into Taj Samudra led Chaudhary to invest in 12 different properties in partnership with Jetwing Hotels Group and Ceylon Hotels Corporation. CG is also the largest shareholder in Nabil Bank, which is currently the largest bank in Nepal’s private sector, post its recent acquisition of Nepal Bangladesh Bank.