The cash strapped federal government, through Privatisation Commission (PC), is going to bag at least $500 million through selling 10 percent of its shares in the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL). The PC Board is proceeding well with a plan to sell up to 430 million stakes of the federal government in the energy giant.
The sell-off would accrue the cash-strapped government a handsome amount of $500 million. “The Privatisation Commission on behalf of the Government of Pakistan has planned to issue Exchangeable Bonds (EBs) to the tune of $500 million (that would be) exchangeable into (the) shares of the OGDCL,” the Company told its shareholders at Karachi Stock Exchange on Monday.
“We are requesting the PC to send details… for dissemination amongst the market participants and investors,” the company told the KSE management. In this regard, Federal Minister for Privatization Ghous Bux Khan Mahar was scheduled to chair a meeting of PC Board to formulate recommendations for Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) and review the status and progress of various ongoing and upcoming transactions at the Commission in Islamabad. The PC Board was also to consider the appointment of Financial Advisory Consortia for the issuance of OGDCL’s EBs.
The Commission is reported to have received Expressions of Interest from the four consortia:
1. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank, SCB and KASB.
2. HSBC, BNP PARIBAS, UBS, NIB and National Bank of Pakistan.
3. Citibank, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and BMA.
4. Nomura, Deutsche Bank and Silk Bank.
The federal government is reported to have issued these consortia Request for Proposal (RFP) package for the submission of technical and financial proposals. In accordance with the timeline set, reportedly, for the issuance of OGDCL’s Bonds, the transaction is expected to complete by last week of next month.
