ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) on Saturday approved the transaction structure for the divestment of government’s remaining 20 per cent shares in the United Bank Limited (UBL).
The Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) met under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar. The government would generate $400 million from disinvestments of UBL’s 20 percent shares, which is likely to be completed on June 3 2014. The federal government has already sold 80.2 percent shares in UBL. General Pervez Musharraf’s government had raised Rs53 billion by selling UBL’s shares through three separate transactions, which were carried out from 2002 to 2007.
Meanwhile, Minister of State/Chairman Privatization Commission Mohammad Zubair in his detailed briefing informed the CCoP that the Privatization Commission Board constituted a Transaction Committee to oversee the overall transaction process.
He informed that the transaction structure, proposed by the transaction Committee, envisages offering the Government of Pakistan shares to both international and domestic institutional investors and high net worth individuals (HNWI), through an integrated International book building exercise. He added that the transaction will be completed by June 30th, 2014 and it will be first equity transaction by the Privatization Commission in the last 8 years.
The Board of Directors of Privatization commission on Friday approved the transaction structure for UBL and recommended it for the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) approval.
Finance Minister said that due diligence has to be observed during the whole process and directed the Privatization Commission to maintain transparency and fairness at all levels of the transaction. He added that there will be no compromise on two basic principles; transparency and fair price for the transaction. He said that the recently completed auction of 3G/4G Spectrum has been appreciated by everybody due to the above mentioned two principles and the same model should be followed in the divestment of state owned entities.
–Imran Ali Kundi


He added, “We should strive for maximizing participation from both foreign and domestic investors and fetch in the best price possible for our country.”
The finance minister also said that the reform process undertaken by the government will also help in the successful and transparent completion of the process as Pakistan has already made successful entry in the international capital markets. He observed that the Eurobond has been oversubscribed and now the international investors have more confidence in the financial standing of our country. The federal minister also directed the members of the Privatization Commission to follow the settlement process that is efficient from operational and cost perspectives.
The meeting was also attended by the Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqqan Abbasi, Federal Secretaries and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.