Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC announced the appointment of Mr. Ajit Mahendra De Silva Jayaratne as the new Chairman of the Company with effect from 27th October 2021, following the demise of Mr. S P Tao, the Founder and Chairman of Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC. (1991-2021)
Prior to being appointed as Chairman of the Company, Mr. Ajit Jayaratne was an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company since 2005. He is also the Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Mr. Jayaratne graduated from the University of Southampton, U.K. with a BSc degree in Economics. Thereafter he qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of U.K. Returning to Sri Lanka, he became a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He served at Forbes & Walker Limited for most of his working life, culminating in being appointed as the Chairman of the Company, a position he held for several years. During his period of service at Forbes & Walker, he was appointed to the Boards of several public and private companies. He also served as the Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Finance Commission and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Upon retiring from the private sector, he was appointed as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Singapore. Upon completing his term in Singapore and returning to Sri Lanka, he continues to serve on the Boards of several public companies.
Furthermore, the Company announced the appointment of Mr. Ben Nien Tao, the son of Mr. S P Tao, as a Non-Executive Director of Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC with effect from 27th October 2021. Mr. Ben Tao is a director of the Shing Kwan Group of Companies and holds an indirect shareholding of 1,063,519,897 shares in the Company. Mr. Ben Tao served as the Alternate Director to Mr. Shing Pee Tao and upon his demise he ceased to be an Alternate Director with effect from 24th August 2021.
The Singapore based real estate specialists, Shing Kwan Group are the majority shareholders of Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC, the premier property investment, development, and management Company in Sri Lanka, owning the iconic World Trade Center and Havelock City Developments.