October 16, 2003	Thursday	Sha'aban 19, 1424

KARACHI, Oct 15: Habib Bank Limited will be selling the UAE, Bahrain and Oman the shares of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited when the company offers them for public subscription later this month.

“Being one of the bankers to the issue we will be collecting the subscription forms (of OGDCL shares) in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman,” confirmed HBL president Zakir Mahmood.

When asked if the bank will be marketing the shares in these countries, he replied in a big NO. “We will not be marketing and we cannot,” he said, making it clear that the bank would need the permission of the monetary authorities of the said countries for marketing the OGDCL shares. “Besides, we have not got the marketing mandate,” he said when reached by Dawn over telephone.

The HBL president also replied in negative when asked if the bank had a set target for selling the OGDCL shares to overseas Pakistanis through its branches in the above-named countries. “We have no targets and we are not responsible for setting targets,” he said.

But banking sources say HBL is planning to sell 20 per cent of the total 215 million shares of OGDCL in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman. The offering price is Rs32 per share and 20 per cent of 215 million shares come to about Rs1.4 billion or roughly $24 million.

Mr Mahmood said HBL operates eight branches in the UAE; two in Bahrain and 11 in Oman.