October 7, 2003	Tuesday	Sha’aban 10, 1424

KARACHI, Oct 6: National Development Leasing Corporation Limited (NDLC) said on Monday that the company’s share transfer books would be closed from October 14 to determine the names of shareholders of NDLC for the purpose of amalgamation.

NDLC is to merge with Pakistani branches of the Bangladeshi bank: International Finance Investment and Commerce Bank Limited (IFICL), which would go to create NDLC-IFIC Bank Limited (NIB). The scheme of amalgamation had been approved by the shareholders in NDLC at an extraordinary general meeting held on May 22 and it was sanctioned by the State Bank of Pakistan vide letter dated September 23. As per the SBP Sanction Order, the Scheme had to be effective within 30 days of the order i.e. latest by October 16, 2003.

The notice issued jointly by NDLC and NDLC-IFIC Bank Limited on Monday stated that for the purpose of implementation of the scheme, ordinary shares of NIB of the face value of Rs10 each would be issued to shareholders of NDLC in exchange for shares of NDLC of the face value of Rs5 each at the rate of 130.25 ordinary shares of NIB of nominal value of Rs10 each for every 100 shares of NDLC of nominal value of Rs5 each, credited as fully paid-up, to the registered shareholders of NDLC as approved by the shareholders and sanctioned by the SBP.

There appears to have been some improvement in the swap ratio, as earlier in the ExGM of shareholders the swap ratio was determined as 1.176 shares of Rs10 each in the merged bank: NDLC-IFIC Bank Limited, for a share of Rs5 each held in NDLC. The companies may have thought fit to improve the swap ratio in favour of the NDLC shareholders, due to a rise in market price of stock in NDLC from around Rs8 in May to Rs18 currently.