ISLAMABAD – The government would opt for international listings of a few state owned enterprises (SOEs), while some entities would be listed before privatisation on public private partnership. The Privatisation Commission (PC), on Saturday, issued policy guidelines for privatisation through capital market transaction, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) on February 3.
The statement said that CCOP approved the privatisation policy of supporting capital market through the sequenced divestment of shares in SOEs through domestic and international stock exchanges. The divestment of SOEs through capital market transactions will add depth to the local capital market and will provide shared ownership to both retail and institutional investors.
The public offerings, through stock exchanges and international listings (GDRs), will be done on case-to-case basis tailored to circumstances of each enterprise. It was emphasised that only careful packaging, timing and sequencing could yield best results. Where found expedient, the entity would be listed before adoption of the PPP privatisation mode to benefit capital market price discovery mechanism.
