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Pakistan to offer another 10 per cent UBL shares

A senior official of Pakistan's Privatisation Commission told Khaleej Times that the shares would be offered to the general public in two lots of 500 and 1,000 shares. The offering would be brought to the market in the next eight weeks.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) held in Islamabad yesterday. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz chaired the meeting and noted that the privatisation programme was moving satisfactorily.

UBL is the third largest bank of the country partly owned by Abu Dhabi Group of the UAE. The bank was privatised in October 2002 through a strategic sale in which 51 per cent (264.18 million) shares were transferred along with management control. As many as 25.5 per cent (132.09 million) shares each were acquired by the Abu Dhabi Group of the UAE and the Bestway Group for a total price of Rs12.3 billion. The Government of Pakistan still have 39 per cent shares in the bank despite offloading 10 per cent shares through stock markets in May 2005.

The bank offers a wide range of services through a wide network of over 1,000 domestic branches all over Pakistan and 15 overseas branches including eight in the UAE as part of its global network. Abu Dhabi and Dubai each have three branches of the bank while the other two branches are in Sharjah and Al-Ain.

The UBL has a full service licence covering commercial, retail banking, consumer and investment banking activities in Pakistan and most of the other countries where it is present.

Besides UAE, the bank operates in United Kingdom, United States of America, Yemen, Bahrain and Qatar. It also has representative offices in Cairo (Egypt), Teheran (Iran) and Oman.

PTCL deal status: The Minister for Privatisation & Investment Dr Abul Hafeez Sheikh apprised the CCOP about the status of the privatisation programme of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).

He was firm that $2.598 billion telecom deal with Etisalat would be completed soon as the two sides are working closely to finalise the complex transaction.

PAFC bidding on February 28: The CCOP was informed that eight parties had been pre-qualified for participating in the bidding for Pak American Fertilizers Company Limited (PAFC). It was also informed that the bidding for this company would be held on February 28, 2006. The Committee was informed that the bidding for Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSMC) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has been scheduled for early March 2006.

Upcoming transactions: The CCOP was also briefed on the upcoming transaction upto June 30, 2006 namely SNGPL, SSGC, NIT Units, Jamshoro Power Company and IPOs of SLIC and PARCO. The CCOP appreciated the efforts of the Privatisation Commission.