Stake sales in CT Holdings and its subsidiary Cargills (Ceylon) worth more than Rs. 15 billion pushed turnover on the Colombo Stock Exchange to Rs. 16.85 billion on Monday — the largest single transaction of 2026 — even as the market itself closed lower.

CT Holdings saw 20.14 million shares, or 10 percent of the company, change hands at Rs. 575 a share. Cargills (Ceylon) saw six million shares, a 3 percent stake, sold at Rs. 700 a share, EconomyNext reported, citing brokers.

The transaction surpasses the previous largest of the year, a Rs. 9 billion sale of Commercial Credit & Finance shares on August 6.

A high turnover that flatters the day

The headline figure masked a weak session. The All Share Price Index fell 71.84 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 21,344.77, according to the Daily Mirror’s market report. Roughly 67.08 million shares traded in all.

Crossings — pre-arranged block trades negotiated off the order book — accounted for about Rs. 15.83 billion, or close to 94 percent of equity turnover. The Food and Staples Retailing sector alone generated some Rs. 15.79 billion of the day’s business. CTHR.N recorded about Rs. 11.59 billion in turnover and CARG.N about Rs. 4.20 billion. A smaller John Keells Holdings crossing of 2.34 million shares at Rs. 19.90 was worth about Rs. 46.53 million.

Strip out the block trades and the picture was one of broad selling. Only 62 securities advanced against 130 that declined, an advance-to-decline ratio of 0.48, and foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of Rs. 909.90 million.

CT Holdings was the single largest positive contributor to the index, adding 11.37 points and closing up 4.91 percent at Rs. 550.50 — below the Rs. 575 crossing price. Cargills closed down 0.80 percent at Rs. 680.75. Commercial Bank of Ceylon took the most off the index, subtracting 9.39 points, with Melstacorp and Ceylon Tobacco Company also among the drags on both outlets’ lists.

The outlets differ on the S&P SL20. The Daily Mirror reported the index down 18.69 points, or 0.31 percent, at 6,009.40; EconomyNext put it down 10.79 points, or 0.18 percent, at 6,017.30. Daily FT’s report matches the Daily Mirror exactly — down 0.31 percent, or 18.69 points, at 6,009.40 — leaving EconomyNext as the outlier on that index. None of the three has explained the difference.

Daily FT also reported that Asia Securities investment banking arranged the entire transaction, with its stockbroking arm executing all of the selling and half of the buying. It put the Cargills stake traded at 2.32 percent, against the 3 percent given by both the Daily Mirror and EconomyNext; the Rs. 4.2 billion Cargills turnover figure is the same in all three reports. Sunshine Holdings was the third largest contributor to turnover at Rs. 178.4 million.

‘Investors willing to get large stakes’

Raynal Wickremeratne, Head of Research and Strategy at NDB Securities, told EconomyNext the scale of the deal was a positive signal.

“Even in a global turmoil scenario, there are investors will[ing] to invest at high value, shows that the market has strengthened,” he said. “It’s a good sign that investors are willing to get large stakes because that means they’re in for the long run.”

None of the reports at the time named the buyers or the sellers in the CT Holdings and Cargills transactions.

Update, August 29: the buyer is the Carson Cumberbatch group

Five days later, a stock exchange filing identified the buyer of the CT Holdings stake. Several companies within the Carson Cumberbatch PLC group, acting in concert, bought 20,141,698 ordinary voting shares in CT Holdings on August 24 — the block trade reported above — followed by a further 107,000 shares on August 25, EconomyNext reported, citing the filing.

“Accordingly, the aggregate holding purchased represents 10.05% of the voting rights of C T Holdings PLC,” the company said in its disclosure to the exchange.

The shares were bought at between Rs. 530 and Rs. 575 each — a range, rather than the single Rs. 575 price reported on the day. The two purchases together, 20,248,698 shares, are consistent with the 10.05 percent figure and with the roughly 10 percent stake reported at the time.

Carson Cumberbatch is a long-established Colombo conglomerate with interests spanning oil palm plantations, brewing, real estate and portfolio management. The purchase takes it just above the 10 percent threshold in CT Holdings, the parent of the Cargills retail group.

The filing does not name the seller, and the buyer of the separate Cargills (Ceylon) stake sold the same day has still not been disclosed.

Sources