The PTCL is a great attraction to the world fame telecom companies and its practical evidence was massive response from the parties. In the first phase, 14 parties had submitted EoIs.
The EoIs of four more parties showed extraordinary interest of the world's telecom tycoons in PTCL buying.
The minister said that the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) would be handed over to the new management soon. However, the government would pick up losses till handing over of the company to the new management.
Privatisation Secretary Tehsin Khan Iqbal, who accompanied the minister during the briefing, told a questioner that Rs 15.2 billion were allocated to improve KESC efficiency and so far Rs 4.5 billion have been spent.
The minister dispelled the impression that the Privatisation Commission deliberately did not announce PSO sell-off plan through the press. He said that PSO's privatisation was a very delicate issue and for the same reason it was being handled very carefully.
He said that the deadline for submission of EoIs for PSO was extended on the request of some of the interested parties, which were looking for partners to join them for this big transaction.
KAPCO IPO BALLOTING TODAY: The minister said Kapco initial public offering (IPO) oversubscribed by 4.5 times since 1.4 million applied for its shares against the limit of 31,600.
Dr Hafeez termed Kapco over-subscription as historical and a big achievement of "privatisation for the people programme".
The minister announced that balloting for Kapco shares will be held in Karachi on Friday and its results will be made public through the official website and banks within hours. Unsuccessful applicants will get refund of their money by March 14.
The government will use green shoe option to accommodate maximum number of applicants. After green shoe option the number of shares for Kapco IPO will increase to 176 million.
The minister said 2 percent shares will go the Wapda employees and 10 percent to the company employees.
The minister showed satisfaction over the processing of applications and hoped that the transaction will complete well before the deadline.
According to him, the deadline for balloting and refund of money to unsuccessful applicants was March 6 and 16, respectively.
The minister said that Kapco will be followed by United Bank Limited (UBL) and State Life Insurance Company (SLIC) IPOs.
However, he did not give further details such as percentage of shares of these transactions to be offered to public saying that these details would be announced after formal approval of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) in due course of time. The minister said the government owns 49 percentage shares in the UBL.
He added that "privatisation for the people programme" benefited 35,000 families by passing on profit of Rs 50 billion to them. Kapco IPO will add Rs 5 billion to the number and profit to close to 0.7 million and Rs 55 billion, respectively.
Dr Hafeez said that more people will come up for the coming up IPO transaction to get share from the benefit of the privatisation programme.