January 23, 2003	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 19, 1423

LAHORE, Jan 22: An international credit rating, Fitch, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have disinvested their entire holding in Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (Pacra) to its employees and the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE).

The total holding of the LSE, which already had 33 per cent shares in the first Pakistani rating agency, rose to 40 per cent after acquiring another seven per cent stocks.

Fitch and IFC had 44 per cent and 23 per cent holding in the Rs13.5 million company. The employees have acquired 60 per cent stocks out of total 67 per cent disinvested by the two major shareholders, becoming the principal shareholder in the company.

The Pacra management said on Wednesday that Fitch, with its headoffices in New York and London, sold out its holding in the company as part of its global strategy to pull out its investment in certain other overseas affiliates. Under the agreement, according to a Pacra official, IFC was supposed to follow the suit and sell out its stocks in the company as well.

The agency further said the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approved the new arrangement and it would continue to provide full range of rating service in Pakistan.

The sources in the LSE told Dawn that the Pacra employees and the exchange had bought out the Fitch and IFC shareholding at its par value, that is, Rs10 per share. “No premiums, no discounts,” the sources added.

They also said the five-member Pacra board of directors (BoD) would not be changed. “The board had Saeed Qureishi and Sajjad Hassan as two nominees of Fitch and IFC. They have been asked to continue as directors as representatives of the Pacra employees,” a Pacra official said.

The other three board members include the managing directors of Pacra and the LSE and Khalil Mian, the chairman of the board.

Pacra stated that Fitch had also decided to continue to rely on Pacra’s assistance for international rating of local financial institutions as part of Fitch’s global rating service for its subscribers.