THE GOVERNMENT yesterday officially transferred its £22.6 million majority share holding in the Nicosia Hilton to the Louis Tourist Agency.
Finance Minister Takis Klerides signed the documents turning over the 2.44 million shares to Louis Executive Chairman Costakis Loizou as a pleased Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis looked on.
The government had owned 81.33 per cent of the shares in the Cyprus Tour Development Company (CTDC), which actually owns the Nicosia Hilton. Louis acquired those shares via tender. The private sector owns the remaining shares.
Rolandis had long sought to end the government’s hotelier status. He presided over the closure of the other state-owned hotel — the loss-making Philoxenia.
Klerides acknowledged the state was an inefficient business manager, and said the sale was part of its effort to modernise its role and "focus on those services promoting the social role of the state".
Rolandis declared: "The business role of the state has been concluded".
Loizou said he would sell 13 per cent of his CTDC shares to meet Cyprus Stock Exchange rules against listing a company in which one owner holds more than 70 per cent of the shares.
He added he would sell even more than that 13 per cent if legislation being considered in the House of Representatives reduced the percentage of stock ownership allowed for listing on the exchange.
Loizou noted the Nicosia Hilton would continue being operated by the giant Hilton Hotel chain under an existing contract, and that the CTDC would neither meddle in its management nor lay off any employees following the sale.
He said he was "against casinos" because most Cypriots gambled too much as it was, so he had no intention of ever erecting a casino on the luxury hotel’s spacious grounds.
Other bidders for the hotel had suggested erecting a casino on its grounds if Parliament ever passed a law allowing casinos on the island. Casinos are currently outlawed.
In accepting the shares, Loizou noted several local banks had helped finance their purchase. He also said a recent major redecoration of the Hilton obviated any refurbishment.
Besides owning the Nicosia Hilton Hotel, Louis, the island’s largest tourism organisation, also manages Nicosia’s other five-star hotel, the Forum International, which is owned by the Cyprus Church.
Louis’ successful £22.6 million tender for the Hilton was more than double its previous offer of £10 million – rejected by the government as well below the £13-15 million it then wanted for the hotel.
