BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chairman | Mr Osman Kassim |
CEO | Mr Riyaz Mohamed Sangani |
Non Executive Directors | Mr Shahid Mohamed Sangani |
Mr S Ranjan Mather | |
Mr Sujendra R Mather | |
Mr Sattar Kassim |
Independent Non-Executive Directors | Mr Siddath S V Fernando |
Ms. Deepthie Wickramasuriya | |
Mr M Rizvi Zaheed |
A charismatic and visionary figurehead, Mr. Osman Kassim is an entrepreneur with decades of experience in business management, leadership and strategy. Mr. Kassim has accumulated senior management experience in a span of well over 40 years, in countless industries and sectors, in both Sri Lanka and overseas.
Mr. Kassim serves as the Chairman of the Board of Vidullanka PLC. He is also the Chairman of Amana Takaful Life PLC. Mr Osman Kassim is the Emeritus Chairman of Aberdeen Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. Additionally, he serves as a Board member of Amãna Takaful Maldives Ltd, Maldives Islamic Bank and Crescentrating (Pvt.) Ltd, Singapore. In the past, he held positions as the Chairman of the Boards of Expolanka Group, Amãna Bank PLC, Amana Takaful PLC and the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT), Sri Lanka.
Mr. Kassim is one of the promoters of the first ever fully fledged Islamic Bank in Sri Lanka, Amana Bank PLC, which offers non-interest-bearing participatory banking solutions. Another key turn around in the Islamic Finance industry was also his brainchild, which is the establishment of Amana Takaful Insurance PLC, the first ever Takaful Insurance firm in the country. Mr Kassim’s vast knowledge of Islamic banking and insurance positioned him to be a pioneer in the industry in Sri Lanka.
In recognition of his plaudits as a global entrepreneur and a visionary educationist, he was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate from Staffordshire University, UK. Mr. Kassim was also recognized among Sri Lanka’s ‘Captains of Business’ by LMD’s A-List of 100 Sri Lankan business people in 2020.
Mr. Riyaz Sangani is the founder who incubated the idea of Vidullanka PLC into reality. He is the current Chief Executive Officer of the company. Mr. Sangani is a charismatic, risk taking and entrepreneurial leader with over 25 years of senior management experience. Mr. Sangani serves as the director of all boards of the companies under the Vidul Group as well as in some external companies in other industries.
Mr. Sangani is a key contributor to the Renewable Energy industry in Sri Lanka, especially the Small Hydro power sector. He has held office as the President of the Small Hydro Power Developers Association, through which in his tenure the industry made considerable strides in terms of development in the Small Hydro power sector. He continues to represent interests of the nation, industry and populace with regards to renewable energy by way of his services offered as a committee member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and as an Ex Officio member of the Board of Management of the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.
He holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colombo.
Mr. Ranjan Mather, a Board Member of Vidullanka PLC, also played a vital role in the inception of Vidullanka PLC as he joined as a seed investor.
Mr. Mather boasts over 3 decades of experience of senior management in various industries such as textile, fast food and renewable energy. Currently, he serves as the director of several companies including Bhoruka Power Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.
He serves on the Board of Directors of Vidullanka PLC as a Non-Executive Director, and in addition, he serves on the Boards of a number of companies within the Vidullanka Group.
Mr. Sattar Kassim is one of the founder Directors of the Expolanka Holding PLC, a conglomerate that has diversified to be a leading player in a range of business sectors such as Transportation, Manufacturing, Travel & Leisure, International Trade and Strategic Investments.
He is one of the Founders and Group Director of Aberdeen Holdings (Pvt) Ltd and under its umbrella, comes the leading player in Agriculture & Poultry, Commodity Trading, Airline, Tea Exports, UPS courier Agency, General Sales Agents for Saudi Arabian Airline Cargo and the largest Corrugated Carton Manufacturing and Solar Energy companies. Aberdeen Holdings also has strategic investments in the pioneering ventures in oceanic fish farming, courier and related services and plantations in Sri Lanka, in addition to the several international partnerships and ventures in more than 30 countries.
Mr. Sattar Kassim is serving number of companies as the Board Chairman including Bio Extracts (Pvt) Ltd, the pioneer in Sri Lanka and the largest in black seed Extraction Company in South East Asia, Roar Media (Pte) Ltd; a digital media company with presence in the Asian Region, who’s founder was featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia List for 2020, Ruhunu Farms (Pvt) Ltd; a state of the Art Poultry Farm, Globe Air (Pvt) Ltd; General Sales agents for Saudi Arabian Airlines Cargo, HiEnergy Services (Pvt) Ltd; leading Solar Energy Service Providers
in Sri Lanka, Lanka Commodity Holdings (Pvt) Ltd; involved in end-to-end supply chain solutions, importing & distribution of Agricultural Commodities and “Expo Cement” brand ordinary Portland cement in Sri Lanka, Expo Commodities Global (Pvt) Ltd; leading supply chain specialist for the spice industry, and also Expack Corrugated Cartons PLC; the market leaders in manufacturing corrugated cartons in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Sujendra Mather currently holds office as the CEO and Head of Investment Banking of Asia Securities Advisors Pvt Ltd. He was also the co-founder and Managing Director of York Street Partners Pvt Ltd, a leading boutique Investment Banking firm. Mr. Mather possesses over 15 years of experience specialising in Investment Banking and Corporate Finance, during which he was employed at esteemed institutions such as Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, John Keells Holdings PLC and Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance in the US, Sri Lanka and Singapore respectively.
Through his expertise, Mr. Sujendra Mather has led and managed Mergers, Acquisitions, Fund raisings, Restructurings and Strategic Advisory transactions amounting to billions of dollars in the North America and Asia Pacific regions across the Consumer, Retail, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Technology and Mining sectors. He has also extended his services as an advisor on key strategic issues to CEOs and entrepreneurs ranging from different sectors and industries. Mr. Mather also serves as a board member in several other domestic and foreign companies.
He holds a B.A. in Economics- Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College in California, USA.
Ms. Deepthie Wickramasuriya, an Independent Non-Executive Director on the board of Vidullanka PLC, heads the Audit Committee as the chairperson.
She also holds office in Vidul Plantation Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vidullanka PLC as an Independent Non – Executive Director. She plays the same role in the boards of Amana Takaful PLC, Mercantile Investments and Finance PLC in addition to being a Director of the Chitrasena Vajira Dance Foundation. She also provides independent consultancy services to entities in the fields of Business Process Management, Treasury Management and Business Counselling.
Ms. Deepthie Wickramasuriya possesses a wealth of corporate experience spanning more than 35 years, encompassing diverse industries in the United Kingdom, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and the Fiji Islands. She is recognized for leading special initiatives focused on organizational strategy, operations, finance, risk, and governance, both domestically and globally. Her endeavours have played a significant role in addressing the generation gap prevalent in numerous companies and their management boards.
Ms. Wickramasuriya has been a Board member/advisor to the Boards of number of companies including Expolanka Freight (Pvt) Ltd, AHL Business Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, (the Information Technology and Business Process Management arm of Goodhope Asia Holdings Ltd, a part of Carson Cumberbatch PLC), Aviva Global Services, a member of the Aviva group (formerly known as Norwich Union, UK), GFH Management Company (Galle Face Hotel), Lanka Equities (Pvt) Ltd., Flour Mills of Fiji PLC, AMW Management Company (management company of Associated Motorways Ltd) and Family Health Services Authority – Oxfordshire, UK.
She was the Vice President of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps Seva Vanitha Unit from 2012 -2015, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK, and holds an MBA from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
Mr. Rizvi Zaheed is the Chairman of Oceanpick Pvt Ltd, and Hameedia Group. He also serves on the boards of several companies as well as in advisory capacities, particularly among agritech start-ups.
Mr. Rizvi held positions as the Managing Director of the esteemed Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Ltd and director of Hayleys PLC. He now has amassed around 40 years of senior management experience specialising in the Sri Lankan agricultural and corporate sector. Throughout his tenure at Hayleys, he represented the company as a board member of the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC). Additionally, he held the position of Chairman of the Agriculture and Livestock Steering Committee and served as Vice Chairman of the Imports Section at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Currently, he remains actively involved as the Agriculture Lead for the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, he contributes as a member of the National Agriculture Policy Committee under the Ministry of Agriculture, where he plays a crucial role in the development and implementation of agricultural policies for Sri Lanka.
He currently serves as Chairman of the National Industry Biotechnology Association. He is also a member of the University Grants Commission Standing Committee on Agriculture and Livestock as well as a member of the UGC’s Standing Committee on Technology. He also serves on Food and Beverage Advisory Committee of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board and a Member of the Economic Policy Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the council of the Faculty of Technology of the University of Colombo. He is also a member of the National Science Foundation’s Research and Technology Committees and heads the NSF’s Agriculture Steering Committee Mr. Zaheed is currently the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Agriprenuers’ Forum and was previously Chairman of the National Agribusiness Council. He is currently the Vice Chairman of CSR Lanka (Guarantee) Ltd, an NGO promoted and formed with the active support of USAID with the aim of engaging the wider Corporate Community in addressing national priorities and facilitate necessary resources to bridge the gap between ad hoc CSR projects and creating sustainable value. He also serves in the Advisory Board of the USAID project on Climate Adaptation.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Kelaniya and an MBA from the University of Colombo. He is an alumni of the Industrial Society, UK and Swedish Institute of Management, Sweden and a JCI International senator.
He joined the Board of Vidullanka PLC as an Independent Non-Executive Director in July 2018.
Mr. Sidath Fernando is the Managing Partner of Crystal Holding (Pvt) Ltd and the principal shareholder and Chairman of V.D.P. Fernando Co. Ltd, a family-owned business established in 1938.
He is a successful Sri Lankan entrepreneur and has interests in diverse business sectors including manufacturing, real estate, property management, and information communications technology. He has extensive experience in the real estate and property development business as well and has been successful in ventures that involve developing and managing large scale commercial and retail outlets in Colombo.
Mr. Fernando has served as a Director of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, Sky Network (Pvt) Ltd, SLT Manpower Solutions (Pvt) Ltd and People’s Leasing and Finance PLC as well. Overall, he has three decades of hands-on experience in business management, finance, manufacturing, and marketing whilst managing his own small and medium enterprises.
He had been a committee member of the Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka and a Rotarian of the Rotary Club of Colombo.
He has served on the Board of Vidullanka PLC as an Independent Non-Executive Director since 2012.