JAT Holdings appoints Devaka Cooray and Priyanthi Pieris to Board of Directors

Devaka Cooray (left) and Priyanthi Pieris 

JAT Holdings, Sri Lanka’s trusted leader of material required to the Construction and Furnishing Industry, announced the appointment of two renowned industry professionals Devaka Cooray and Priyanthi Pieris to its already elite Board of Directors. 

This appointment further strengthens the balance of the JAT Board by increasing the ratio of independent Directors to far greater than all norms and SEC regulations. It also makes JAT Holdings one of the very few, if not the only large conglomerate to have three female Directors on the Board, in addition to having the Director Finance and the Head of Legal of the Organisation as females as well. 

JAT Holdings Chairman Dr. Siva Selliah said: “The decision to appoint Mr. Cooray and Mrs. Peiris was taken mainly due to their standing in the Business and Social Society and to re-emphasise the transparent governance of the company.” 

JAT Holdings Managing Director Aelian Gunawardene expressed his gratitude to the two new Board members for accepting the invitation of the Board, stressing how delighted he is and how much the company could gain from their vast knowledge and experience. 

Devaka Cooray is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the UK. Cooray currently functions as the Managing Director of Management Systems Ltd. while serving as a Director of Hatton National Bank PLC, Life Insurance Corporation (Lanka) Ltd. and HVA Foods PLC.

With decades of extensive experience, Cooray formerly worked with Ernst & Young for over 40 years, out of which he served as a Senior Assurance and Talent Partner for 30 years. During his term at Ernst & Young, Cooray also functioned as the Deputy Managing Partner from 2016 to 2019 and served as a member of Ernst & Young’s Management Committee since its establishment in 1998, until his retirement in 2019.

Furthermore, he played an integral role in establishing the Ernst & Young Practice in the Republic of Maldives in 1995 with the responsibility of overall management of the Maldivian Practice since its inception. 

Priyanthi Pieris is an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, a Solicitor of England and Wales. With over 39 years of experience in the field of Corporate/Securities Law, Pieris’ expertise spans across handling corporate restructuring, privatisations, capital market transactions, take-overs, mergers and amalgamations. 

Pieris also serves on the Boards of LOLC Finance PLC, Associated Electrical Corporation Ltd., MTN Corporate Consultants Ltd. and is the current Chairperson/Consultant of P. W. Corporate Secretarial Ltd – a firm which provides capital market related services to listed companies. 

Pieris has also served as the Legal Adviser to the Ministry of Finance from 2002 to 2004. She was a Legal consultant to the Colombo Stock Exchange (2004-2011), a Member of the Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka on Takeovers and Mergers Code, a Member of the Corporate Governance Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Member of the Law Commission (2020). She served on the Boards of Asia Assert Finance PLC (2012-2021) and Abans Electricals PLC (2012-2021). 

Positioned as the leader in wood coatings in Sri Lanka for the past 28 years, JAT is largely recognised for its impeccable drive to constantly innovate and improve its deliverables, by keeping its consumers at the heart of its operations. With the appointment of two widely capable and influential figures to its Board of Directors, JAT Holdings will continue to elevate the playing field in Sri Lanka and take the country to new heights.