The Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka has decided to take over the management of Ceylinco Building Society, a spokesman for the company said.

Ceylinco Building Society was established under the National Housing Act No.37 of Sri Lanka, in 1995 and commenced operations in 1998.

"The Society operates in a similar fashion to the Co-operative Societies and is structured broadly along the lines of building societies in the United Kingdom. Ceylinco Building Society has a branch net-work of 18 branches with a strong presence in the North and East and has managed to retain customer confidence despite the current Ceylinco crisis, due to the dedication and commitment of the young management team and the staff," a spokesman said.

With MBSL coming in as the managing agent, CBS and its associate companies will take new initiatives and strategies of diversification and expansion in the near future. In addition, this will also help boost customer confidence and stabilise their business activities due to the reputation and, strength of MBSL, the spokesman said.

The majority of CBS customers are small scale entrepreneurs, self-employed persons and people employed in Sri Lanka or overseas who save regularly with the society with the objective of obtaining housing loans. In addition these companies are also involved in real estate activities and are the prestigious owners of the "6th Avenue Apartments" at 188, Havelock Road, Colombo 5. The company also owns several other valuable real estate sites in the city.

MBSL comes under the dynamic chairmanship of Janaka Ratnayake, who has successfully overcome many challenges and CBSL is confident of widening the objective of broad basing home ownership in Sri Lanka, the spokesman added.