07 February 2004	Saturday	15 Zilhaj 1424

ISLAMABAD, Feb 6: Public subscription for the sale of five per cent shares of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) will be held on February 9-11, the Privatization Commission said on Friday.

A PC announcement said all arrangements had been finalized for the first secondary public offering of SSGC shares being made in accordance with the government's policy to strengthen, broaden and deepen the base of stock market.

SSGC was listed on the stock market in 1956 with the government presently holding 70.43 per cent shares and the remaining 29.57 per cent being with the general public and institutions. The public subscription will open on February 9 and close on February 11 at the close of banking hours, the announcement said.

To facilitate the general public, applications forms for subscription will be published in leading Urdu, English and Sindhi national dailies on February 8. The forms can also be obtained from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges and 14 banks, it said.

Preference will be given to smaller applicants for a minimum lot of 1,000 shares for the public offering of five per cent shares (33.56 million shares), with a 'greenshoe option' of an additional five per cent shares in case of oversubscription.

The offer price has been fixed at Rs26 per share (including a premium of Rs16) with an expectation of total proceeds from 10 per cent shares offering to the tune of Rs1.74 billion.

Second and third preference will be given to applicants for 2,000 and 3,000 shares, respectively, while applications for bigger denomination will be decided on pro rata basis. AMZ securities, Meezan Bank and M. Yousuf Adil Saleem & Company are lead managers to the transaction.