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Branches of all twenty-five banks appointed as bankers to the offer for the
Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Kot Adu Power Company (KAPCO) shares will
accept applications even if the applicant has no bank account. Dr. Abdul
Hafeez Shaikh Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment stated this
during PTV's Program, 'News Night' on Thursday.
The Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and heads of all the Banks have been
approached for issuing instructions to all the branches to facilitate the
general public in subscribing to the KAPCO shares during February 21 to 24,
2005. The Minister stated that a hotline is being set up for the people and in
case they face any problem during subscription, they should immediately call
the HELP LINE for immediate rectification of their problem.
Dr. Hafeez Shaikh further stated that in case any bank official was found
non-responsive and non-cooperative, strict action would be taken against the
individual. The Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan have
also been requested to inform the people of their respective provinces,
enabling them to avail the opportunity to get the direct benefits of
privatisation under the slogan, 'Privatisation for the People', he added.
He said that road shows had been organized at Karachi, Lahore, Multan,
Peshawar, Quetta and Sukkur for informing the general public of the investment
opportunity and application procedure. The public was also being informed of
this investment opportunity through the press and electronic media campaigns,
he stated.
The offer price per share has been fixed at Rs.30/- per share and
applications can be submitted for 500 shares only, requiring an investment of
Rs.15,000/- per application. Upto 176,050,000 (20%) shares of KAPCO (including
green shoe option) will be offered to the general public resulting in
potential proceeds of up to Rs.5.28 billion. Subscription will remain open for
four consecutive days i.e. from Monday, February 21, 2005 to Thursday,
February 24, 2005 during banking hours. People have been advised to submit
only one application per National Identity Card as the applications of people
submitting more than one application will be rejected and the money may be
confiscated under the rules.
KAPCO is a highly profitable company with a good operational record. If the
ever-increasing response to the recent IPOs by the Privatisation Commission is
any indication, then a massive record-breaking response to the KAPCO IPO may
be expected. More than 316,000 applicants are expected to benefit from
balloting for KAPCO shares.
The listing of KAPCO would increase market capitalization significantly and
would bring a worthwhile addition, rather a leader, to the power sector
companies listed on the stock exchanges. The large quantity of shares offered
would also add to the liquid share float in the market. Global Securities
Pakistan Limited are the Lead Managers for the transaction.
The Minister stated that the KAPCO offer was open for both, resident as well
as overseas Pakistanis. The public would receive KAPCO shares in April 2005
and the secondary public offering of OGDCL shares and the IPO of State Life
Insurance Company (SLIC) shares would follow the KAPCO IPO by June 2005, he
informed.
Dr. Hafeez Shaikh said that Pakistan's Privatisation Program was being
acknowledged as the most transparent among the investors around the globe. In
response to the offer for privatisation of National Refinery Limited (NRL), a
record number of 29 Expressions of Interest were received while for the
strategic sale of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) as an
integrated entity, 14 parties submitted EOIs out of which 13 parties have
submitted RSOQs, he said.
Replying to a question regarding the privatisation of Karachi Electric Supply
Company (KESC), the Minister said that the tariff formula for KESC was
unchangeable for a period of seven years and the new buyer was not authorized
to make any change in it. During the privatisation of 20 State owned entities
by the present government not even a single worker was retrenched, instead the
closed units were revived by the private sector through privatisation process,
which has generated employment opportunities and also revived economic
activity in the respective areas of the country, he added.
After the successful privatisation of KESC, an increase of 20 % in the
salaries of the contract workers, disbursement of 10 % shares of the company
to the workers and restoration of trade union activities in KESC would benefit
the workers, he said.