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Founder & Executive Chairman, TWC

Thilan Wijesinghe

Investment banker and public-private partnership specialist, building companies, institutions and partnerships in Sri Lanka since 1992.

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First venture, Asia Capital
1992
Ventures founded or co-founded
6
Public bodies chaired
3
Portrait of Thilan Wijesinghe

Thilan Wijesinghe

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Board of Investment

35

His age when appointed Chairman and Director General, in 1995.

TWC, 2021

US$96m

Marina and hotel plots sold at Colombo Port City, as listed by TWC.

  • Price Waterhouse
  • Sampath Bank
  • Asia Capital
  • Board of Investment
  • SLIIT
  • Asian Hotels
  • Forbes & Walker
  • Resplendent Ceylon
  • Ceylon Tea Trails
  • Sapphirus Lanka
  • Overseas Realty
  • TWC
  • WoW.lk
  • National Agency for PPP
  • SLINTEC
  • Ventive Hospitality
  • Mahindra Ideal Finance
In his words01

“The common thread through the many different roles and ventures has been quite simple: building businesses, institutions, partnerships, people and, hopefully, opportunities for Sri Lanka.”

Thilan Wijesinghe, October 2026

Thilan began in management consulting at Price Waterhouse in Colombo and corporate planning at Sampath Bank. In 1992 he co-founded Asia Capital, and in 1995, at 35, he was appointed Chairman and Director General of Sri Lanka's Board of Investment, by his account the youngest to hold the post.

Since then he has moved between the public and private sectors: running two of Sri Lanka's leading listed property companies, co-founding SLIIT and Ceylon Tea Trails, and setting up the National Agency for Public Private Partnership. Today he leads TWC, the investment banking, real estate and policy advisory group he founded in 2012.

Education

  • BSc, Industrial Engineering

    Cornell University

  • BA, Economics

    Cornell University

  • BSc, Business Administration

    State University of New York

Practice02

What he advises on

Through TWC, the three disciplines his career has been built on, for corporates, governments and multilateral agencies.

  1. 01

    Investment banking & M&A

    Cross-border acquisitions, divestitures and equity raises for Sri Lankan companies, and entry strategies for foreign investors coming in.

    • CBL Group's acquisition in Indonesia
    • Hela's factory divestiture to Q Collection
    • IFC investments in WindForce and New Anthoney's
  2. 02

    Public-private partnerships & policy

    PPP frameworks, laws and transactions for governments and multilateral agencies, drawing on years spent inside the BOI and the PPP agency.

    • Port-sector PPP study for Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh
    • PPP law advice to Bangladesh
    • Bus decarbonisation study with the World Bank
  3. 03

    Real estate & hospitality

    Feasibility, acquisitions and development management, from hotels and resorts to mixed-use towers and waterfront land.

    • Due diligence for Blackstone on Altair, Colombo
    • Climate-adaptive resort strategy in the Maldives
    • Marina land sale at Colombo Port City
The story03

Four decades of building

Every company, institution and public post, in the order they happened.

1980s

  • 1985-1989

    Price Waterhouse, Colombo

    Senior Management Consultant

    First role after graduating from Cornell and SUNY.

  • 1989-1991

    Sampath Bank

    Head of Corporate Planning

    Corporate and strategic planning.

1990s

  • 1992

    Asia Capital

    Co-founder

    Investment bank and stockbroker, listed in 1994. Co-promoted the Regent Sri Lanka Fund, a Dublin-listed fund for Sri Lankan equities.

  • 1995-2001

    Board of Investment of Sri Lanka

    Chairman & Director GeneralPublic

    Appointed at 35. Set up the Bureau of Infrastructure Investment in 1996.

  • 1999

    SLIIT

    Co-founder, board member

    Started with a BOI grant and 400 students. Now Sri Lanka's largest non-state tertiary education provider.

2000s

  • 2002

    Asian Hotels Corporation

    Co-CEO

    The listed hotel and property group now called Asian Hotels & Properties. By his account, he helped bring about its sale to John Keells Holdings in 2003.

  • 2004-2010

    Forbes & Walker

    Group Managing Director

    Ran the MJF Group's commodity broking business while building its leisure arm.

  • 2004

    Resplendent Ceylon

    Co-founder

    The leisure company created with the MJF Group, makers of Dilmah tea.

  • 2004

    Ceylon Tea Trails

    Co-founder, director

    Restored tea planters' bungalows in the hill country, opened in 2005. Sri Lanka's first Relais & Châteaux property.

  • 2008

    Sapphirus Lanka

    Co-founder, Chairman

    Precision-cut sapphires from a workshop in Ratnapura.

2010s

  • 2010

    Overseas Realty (Ceylon)

    Group Managing Director

    Owner of Colombo's World Trade Centre and the Havelock City site.

  • 2012

    TWC

    Founder

    Investment banking, real estate and policy advisory group, with offices in Colombo and Singapore.

  • 2012

    Digital Commerce Lanka (WoW.lk)

    Chairman

    Formed by merging Anything.lk, iBuy.lk and Tradenet.lk in a joint venture with Dialog Axiata, which acquired it in full in 2015.

  • 2017-2019

    National Agency for Public Private Partnership

    Founding ChairmanPublic

    An honorary role under the Ministry of Finance.

2020s

  • 2022-2026

    SLINTEC

    ChairmanPublic

    Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology, a public-private research institute.

  • 2024

    Ventive Hospitality

    Independent Director

    Blackstone-backed hotel company listed in India, with hotels in India and the Maldives.

  • 2024

    Mahindra Ideal Finance

    Chairman

    Joined the board in 2024 and became Chairman in 2025. Became a PLC, with debentures listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, in 2026.

Today04

Where he sits now

The boards and firms he chairs, directs or leads at present.

Since 2012

TWC

Founder & Executive Chairman

An investment and advisory group that brings capital into priority sectors of Sri Lanka's economy. It works across M&A, real estate development management and policy advisory, for corporates, governments and multilateral agencies.

twc-holdings.com

Since 2025

Mahindra Ideal Finance

Chairman

A licensed finance company, majority-owned by Mahindra Finance of India.

Since 2024

Ventive Hospitality

Independent Director

A hotel platform backed by Blackstone and Panchshil, listed in India.

Since 1999

SLIIT

Board member

The non-profit university he co-founded.

Since 2004

Ceylon Tea Trails

Director

Boutique resort in Sri Lanka's tea country.

Since 2008

Sapphirus Lanka

Chairman

Precision sapphire cutting in Ratnapura.

Public service05

Building institutions from the inside

Three posts across three decades, each one setting up or reforming a public body.

  1. 1995-2001

    Board of Investment of Sri Lanka

    Chairman and Director General, appointed at 35. He set up the Bureau of Infrastructure Investment to bring private capital into ports, power and telecoms.

    By his account, the Bureau helped close about US$800 million of infrastructure projects, including the South Asia Gateway Terminal. SLIIT began during this period with a BOI grant.

  2. 2017-2019

    National Agency for Public Private Partnership

    Founding Chairman and acting CEO, an honorary role under the Ministry of Finance. He built the agency from the ground up.

    The agency advised the Treasury on project selection, transaction structuring and fiscal risk for PPPs in highways, power, real estate and transport.

  3. 2022-2026

    Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology

    Chairman of SLINTEC, the research institute owned jointly by the Government and leading Sri Lankan companies.

    His focus was taking research to market. In 2024 SLINTEC commercialised a record eight patents and innovations in twelve months.

Recent mandates06

Deals at TWC

Acquisitions, divestitures, development finance and resort planning since 2021, as listed by TWC.

All transactions
  • Development finance01 / 06

    US$28m

    WindForce & New Anthoney's Farms

    Exclusive financial adviser on IFC investments: up to US$18m for Sri Lanka's first utility-scale 100 MW solar project, and US$10m for an agribusiness group.

    2026

  • Cross-border acquisition02 / 06

    US$25m+

    CBL Group

    Exclusive buy-side adviser on the acquisition of PT Tri Jaya Tangguh, a coconut processor in Indonesia. CBL's entry into the world's largest coconut exporter.

    2025

  • Divestiture03 / 06

    2025

    Hela Group

    Exclusive sell-side adviser on the sale of two garment factories to Q Collection of Singapore, including BOI approvals.

  • Acquisition due diligence04 / 06

    2024

    Blackstone India

    Technical and market assessment, and oversight of financial and legal due diligence, for its acquisition of Indocean Developers, owner of Altair, Colombo.

  • Resort master plan05 / 06

    2023

    Maldives Fund Management Corporation

    Strategy and design standards for the Maldives' first climate-adaptive luxury resort, on Gaafaru island. Foster + Partners were selected for the master plan.

  • Land sale06 / 06

    US$96m

    CHEC Port City / Browns Investments

    Sole adviser on the sale of 10.3 acres of marina and hotel plots at Colombo Port City.

    2021

On the record07

What he has argued

Positions he has taken in speeches, interviews and on television, in his own terms.

01Stabilisation is not recovery

Sri Lanka has stabilised but not recovered. The bigger risk now is weak public institutions, and the country has to choose competitiveness.

Turning Point, February 2026

02What makes a PPP work

Partnerships succeed on competition, clear communication and capable people working through a transparent process. He cites the South Asia Gateway Terminal as a success.

Economy.lk, 2019; Turning Point, 2026

03Reforming state enterprises

Privatisation is not the only answer. The Finance Ministry should act as an activist shareholder, with private auditors, stock-exchange-style disclosure and management contracts where a sale is not possible.

Economy.lk forum, September 2019

04A single window for investors

Restore the BOI as a genuine one-stop service, and focus investment on renewable energy, healthcare, agriculture and tourism.

Face the Nation, April 2024

05Bringing in global hotel brands

By his figures, about 6% of Sri Lanka's graded resort rooms are run by international brands, against more than 40% in the Maldives. Closing that gap brings high-spending visitors.

Daily Mirror, January 2025

Talks and interviews