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The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) on Saturday approved the restructuring and sale of additional shares of the Allied Bank Limited (ABL). The meeting also allowed sale of 10 percent shares retained for employees of privatised units and reviewed the preliminary results of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) transaction.

The meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz.

The CCoP also approved the highest bid of Rs 14.2 billion given by the consortium of Ibrahim Leasing Limited and Associates for acquiring 325 million additional shares in the ABL which constitute 75.35 percent of the revised capital.

Approving the decision, Shaukat Aziz directed the SBP to ensure that the remaining part of the transaction should also be done in a transparent manner.

To this end, the SBP should ensure that no funds from the ABL should be involved directly or indirectly in the completion of the transaction.

The transaction for the sale of shares of the ABL is solely for the sake of reconstruction of its capital base and the amount so generated will be injected in the bank to raise its capital.

After injection of this capital, the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of the bank will increase to allow the bank to expand its activities.

The sale of shares of the ABL through reconstruction of its capital under Section 47 of the Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962, is a landmark transaction, as the bank has been successfully re-capitalised without any injection of funds by the government or the State Bank of Pakistan.

The CCoP also approved the preliminary transaction structure for the privatisation of the PPL.

The committee was briefed about the overwhelming response by small investors to the recent IPO of the PPL shares offered by the Government of Pakistan.

The minister noted with satisfaction that the offering had been over-subscribed according to interim information received from banks and the benefit would be passed on to a large number of small investors.

Shaukat Aziz observed that the public offering of the PPL would also significantly add to the market capitalisation, broaden and further strengthen the base of the stock market.

The CCoP also gave approval for the sale of 10 percent shares of the privatised units retained for employees to benefit approximately 1500 workers.

The units include Kohat Cement, Dandot Cement, Ghribwal Cement and Ittehad Chemicals.

The 10 percent shares would be offered at 50 percent discount at the prevailing market price to those employees of these privatised units who had not accepted the VSS/GHS schemes.

The CCoP reviewed the progress of the privatisation process of various public sector entities and gave necessary instructions to accelerate the pace of privatisation process.

The CCoP constituted a meeting under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Privatisation and Investment Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh to review issue raised by the prospective bidders for Fesco and other power sector entities and provide maximum comfort to complete these transactions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2004


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