Libyans involved in the sale of Umubano Hotel

As the evaluation of the market value of Umubano Hotel nears completion, the Libyan government-affiliated Laico Group might participate in the re-sell of the hotel, according to a senior member on the hotel board.Government, last year, repossessed Umubano Hotel, after Laico, which was managing it, failed to live up to their investment plan.Rosemary Mbabazi, the chairperson of the Board of the Directors of Soprotel, a government company that manages the hotel, told The New Times, yesterday, that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is almost done with the evaluation of the market value of the Kacyiru based facility.The Libyan government, through Laico, owns 60 per cent of the hotel’s shares while the rest is owned by government.Laico Group was one of the companies started by the former Libyan government of Muammar Gadhafi, who was killed during last year’s revolution, ending his 40-year rule. “The evaluation exercise done by PricewaterhouseCoopers is almost complete and by next week we expect to get the final report of the market value of the hotel,” she said.Mbabazi, currently the caretaker manager of the hotel, pointed out all companies that applied to buy 100 per cent shares had their bids rejected on the basis that their offers were not attractive.Others, she said, submitted their bids after the deadline had elapsed.“We are planning to re-launch the tendering process for the buyer again, but this time, the Libyans might be on board because we have been in touch with them and we might start the process of selling the hotel together as shareholders,” she explained. “I cannot specify the date or the month but soon we shall re-launch the sale of the hotel. We are in touch with the Libyans because they have new people on board who want to buy the hotel.”The company to buy 100 per cent shares of the hotel must be experienced in the hotel industry with a clear and strong investment plan that will bring something new in the market, she said.The facility, one of the few hotels that were in place before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi needs a major structural overhaul.During the recently conducted first-ever star classification of all hospitality facilities in the country, Umubano was left out because it was pending renovation.

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Libyans involved in the sale of Umubano Hotel