ECONOMYNEXT – Supply chain management, strong competition, and the political landscape in Kenya will be the key challenges in managing the newly acquired business Twiga Stationers & Printers,  Sri Lanka’s diversified conglomerate Hemas Holdings PLC’s Group CEO   Ashish Chandra said.

Sri Lanka’s Hemas Holdings PLC completed its first landmark international acquisition by purchasing a 75% stake in Kenya’s Twiga Stationers & Printers Limited for $16.1 million through its subsidiary, Atlas Axillia Company.

This milestone transaction marks a major strategic shift as Hemas establishes an operational manufacturing and distribution footprint in East Africa’s dynamic $136 billion economy.

Chandra, Hemas Group CEO said the supply chain management will be the biggest challenge as the stationary business is seasonal.

“About 65 to 70% of the business is done in the 3 months, which is typically from November onwards to January because that’s a special school season,” Chandra told EconomyNexrt in an interview on Wednesday regarding the acquisition of the Kenyan firm.

“So, it’s very important to procure and ensure that you have a supply of paper at the right cost during that time. And paper is a commodity. The prices keep going up and down, and especially with the Middle East economic crisis, this becomes a challenge,” he said.

“So frankly, what is very important for us to secure, right paper quantity at the right cost every year. And that’s where I think the expertise of Atlas comes into picture because we had been doing this over for many years where we can bring those expertise there to bring it up. So that’s, frankly, is the biggest challenge that we have.”

Twiga is a market leader with prominent local brands like Kasuku, CrownBird, and Envoy in Kenya.

With the acquisition, Hemas gains immediate access to Kenya’s 54 million consumers as well as broader trade routes across the East African region, which has a 330 million customer base.

Strong Competition

Chandra said the second challenge comes from the competitors as the competition is expected to grow over time, especially since the third and fourth competitors have merged to become a strong number 2 player.

“So there’s a renewed focus from the competition. Than there are few international players also coming into the market. So competition continues. But I always believe competition  always take the industry to the next level. But that’s definitely a continuous challenge,” he said.

The acquisition also unlocks commercial synergies between Atlas Axillia and Twiga in product innovation, manufacturing efficiency, and back-to-school consumer segments.

Establishing East Africa and Bangladesh as core pillars of its international consumer strategy allows Hemas to hedge against domestic macroeconomic volatility in Sri Lanka, diversifying its revenue base into high-growth international markets.

Chandra said Kenyan government policies also will matter in the business, as the east African nation is scheduled to hold elections next year.

“Like in Sri Lanka, a lot of the stationery and paper market also depends on the subsidy that the government gives to the schools, which is then further given to the students to buy books and other stuff.” he said.

He said if there is any policy change after the elections, it “can impact the market”.

“But we are pretty well aware and we’ve been handling this here also. The challenges are similar in Sri Lanka, too.” (Colombo/August 20/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s rupee appreciated sharply to close at 330.10/20 to the US dollar in the spot market on Thursday, from 331.10/20 the previous day, while bond yields held broadly steady, dealers said.

A bond maturing on 15.09.2027 closed flat at 9.60/80 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.03.2028 closed at 9.98/10.05 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.10.2028 closed at 10.10/20 percent, up from 10.05/15 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.08.2030 closed at 10.80/90 percent, up from 10.75/85 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.02.2031 closed at 10.90/11.00 percent, down from 10.95/11.00 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.12.2032 closed at 11.15/25 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.11.2033 closed at 11.40/50 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.10.2034 closed at 11.70/80 percent, down from 11.80/90 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.08.2036 closed at 11.95/12.00 percent, down from 12.00/05 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.07.2037 closed at 11.95/12.00 percent, down from 12.05/15 percent. (Colombo/Aug20/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has revised down its tourist arrival target and revenue goal, the country’s Tourism Promotion Bureau chief said.

The island nation cut down its 3.0 million visitor goal in 2026 to 2.7 million and while lowered its revenue target from tourism to US$4.2 billion from US$5.0 billion.

“We surpassed 1.4 million arrivals right now at the beginning of August, and we are aiming for 2.7 million tourists with the upcoming season and promotions in line,”Hewawasam told reporters in Colombo on Monday at a media briefing.

The island nation’s tourism industry suffered after the start of Middle Eastern escalation on February 28 this year.

The 3.0 million arrival target and the 5.0 billion dollar revenue benchmark have now been pushed to next year.

To support the revised targets, authorities are rolling out a 1.5 billion rupee interim digital and public relations campaign running from August 2026 to April 2027 across six key source markets: Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, China, and Russia.

A wider 5.0 billion rupee global destination campaign is scheduled to follow from 2027 through early 2029.

“The approach is to increase arrivals and revenue, expand tourism across the country, and diversify our portfolio into marine, wellness, and adventure travel,” Hewawasam said.

He noted that promotional efforts will actively highlight lesser-known destinations in the Eastern and Northern provinces, while partnering with airlines, online travel agencies, and creative platforms to build long-term nation branding.

Sri Lanka enjoyed 2.36 million tourist arrivals and US$3.2 billion  in earnings in last year. (Colombo/August 20/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has sold 14,000 million rupees of treasury bills offered on tap at average rates of 9.22 percent, 9.60 percent and 9.91 percent, the public debt management office said, bringing the total of bills sold this week to 154 billion rupees.

Total market subscription was 88,289 million rupees.

The debt office sold a 3-month bill at 9.22 percent.

The debt office sold a 6-month bill at 9.60 percent.

The debt office sold a 12-month bill at 9.97 percent.

On Wednesday (19) the debt office raised 140 billion rupees of 3, 6 and 12 month bills.

Read more
Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields continue drop, Rs140bn sold

All 3 bills were later offered on tap. (Colombo/Aug20/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange closed down on Thursday trading, CSE data showed, with the benchmark All Share Price Index moving down 0.05 percent.

The ASPI was down 10.95 points at 21,405.62, while the more liquid S&P SL20 was down 0.02 percent, or 1.13 points, at 6,019.25.

Positive contributors to the ASPI were Aitken Spence (up 1.25 percent at 141.50 rupees), Dialog Axiata (up 0.43 percent at 46.70 rupees), Central Finance Company (up 0.89 percent at 227.75 rupees), and Commercial Development Company (up 2.71 percent at 37.90 rupees).

John Keells Holdings (down 0.50 percent at 19.80 rupees), Citizens Development Business Finance (down 3.35 percent at 37.50 rupees), and Digital Mobility Solutions Lanka (down 0.63 percent at 159.00 rupees) were top negative contributors.

Market turnover was 1.5 billion rupees. Banks led turnover with 490.6 million rupees.

Arcasia Investment & Trading and ATX Partners will launch their voluntary offer to acquire all ordinary shares of Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) on August 21 at 40 cents a share.

The voluntary offer, which is scheduled to close on September 12, values the total share capital of 3.75 billion shares at approximately 1.5 billion rupees under full acceptance.

Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) shares closed up 16.67 percent at 0.70 rupees. (Colombo/August20/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Arcasia Investment & Trading and ATX Partners will launch their voluntary offer to acquire all ordinary shares of Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) (IAC) on August 21, at 40 cents a share.

The voluntary offer, which is scheduled to close on September 12, values the total share capital of 3,749,411,250 shares at approximately 1.5 billion rupees (1,499,764,500) under full acceptance.

The offer follows agreements signed on July 7, where IAC director Ramanan Govindasamy agreed to sell his 48.03 percent stake (1.8 billion shares) and Srikumar Balasubramaniyam agreed to sell his 2.13 percent stake (80 million shares) to the joint offerors at 40 cents a share.

Upon Govindasamy and Balasubramaniyam tendering their combined 50.16 percent stake, the voluntary offer will automatically convert into a mandatory offer under the Company Take-overs and Mergers Code and become unconditional as to acceptances.

Under the equal purchase agreement, Arcasia and ATX Partners will each buy 50 percent of the total shares tendered under the offer.

The joint offerors stated in the offer document that they intend to continue IAC’s current business in its ordinary course as an investment holding company with interests in the bitumen space, with plans to expand its portfolio in the medium to long term. No major changes to operations or redeployment of fixed assets are anticipated.

IAC director Ramanan Govindasamy will resign from his employment with the company, with his resignation becoming effective ipso facto upon the transfer of his shares to the offerors. 

The employment of all other IAC staff is expected to continue under current management guidelines.

The acquisition is fully backed by local banking institutions. Seylan Bank PLC has confirmed that Arcasia has the necessary financial resources of 749.88 million rupees (LKR 749,882,250) to settle its half of the acquisition. DFCC Bank PLC has provided a parallel confirmation of 749.88 million rupees (LKR 749,885,250) for ATX Partners.

Arcasia Investment & Trading, incorporated in 2019, is owned by Pinnaduwage Aravinda De Silva (85 percent) and Priyangi Anushaka Wijenayake (15 percent), who both serve as directors. 

The company recorded a net profit after tax of 123.14 million rupees for the financial year ending March 31, 2026, driven by 128.80 million rupees in other income.

ATX Partners, incorporated in February 2024, is owned equally by directors Asanth Shamil Sebastian and Sharad Sridharan. For the financial year ended March 31, 2026, ATX Partners reported a net profit after tax of 566.72 million rupees, with total assets of 4.09 billion rupees, primarily comprised of investments in listed shares. (Colombo/Aug20/2026)