PAKISTAN: Government sets up privatisation fund

16 February 1996
NEWS

The government is to launch a privatisation fund as a vehicle for domestic and international investors to participate in the sale of state-owned enterprises. The Government of Pakistan Privatisation Fund may seek to raise more than $100 million in the first half of 1996, Karachi financial sources say.

HSBC Asset Management, international manager of the issue, says that the government will select all the companies to be included in the fund, and will calculate weightings before the fund is sold. This means that potential investors will have access to precise information prior to purchasing fund units. This makes the fund unique, HSBC says.

The composition of the fund has not yet been finalised. However, HSBC says that one third is likely to consist of government enterprises already listed such as Paldstan Telecommunications Company and Sui Southern Gas Company. The remainder of the fund would be enterprises which have not yet been listed. These could include Karachi Electric Supply Corporation and Habib Bank.

The fund is to be marketed in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and on the three Pakistani bourses in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. HSBC subsidiary James Capel is the selling agent.

The local Taurus Securities will sell the fund in Pakistan.

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