Sudan sells stake in Coral hotel to Kuwait

March 27, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The government of Kuwait has acquired full ownership of the Sudanese-Kuwaiti Hotels Company in a deal signed today but of which the terms were kept secret.

A signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of Finance and National Economy in Khartoum which was attended by the Kuwaiti ambassador Mansour al-Hajri and Sudanese Undersecretary of Finance Abdelrahman Dirar.

The head of real estate division in Kuwait Investment Authority Khaled Hassoun signed on behalf the Kuwaiti government while the head of technical committee responsible for disposing of public sector firms Abdelrahman Nur al-Din represented the Sudanese side.

Sudan had a 51% stake in the company which has now been acquired by Kuwait.

Dirar said that the sale of Sudanese government’s shares in the company comes within the framework of promoting investments in the field of tourism which has become an important industry in the modern economy.

He explained that the company will now work to support the infrastructure in the field of tourism.

The Kuwaiti ambassador noted that the joint company was founded in 1972 and established Hilton chain hotels in Khartoum and Port Sudan before it later became Coral Hotels.

Hilton Hotels withdrew from Sudan in 2007 for fear of facing penalties by US Treasury for violating sanctions.

(ST)