04 November 2004	Thursday	20 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Nov 3: The Lahore Stock Exchange became majority shareholding in the Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (Pacra) Limited after acquiring 6.70 per cent shares disinvested by Fitch and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The LSE's shareholding in Pacra rose to 40 per cent from 33.30 per cent with the acquisition of these shares, according to a Pacra announcement on Wednesday. The announcement did not elaborate as to why the IFC and Fitch had disinvested their shareholding in the agency. Pacra Chief Executive Javed Masud was also not available for comment.

The announcement said the Pacra management also sold minority stake to Crosby Asset Management Limited Chief Executive Mumtaz H Syed and financial consultant Muhammad Iqbal in order to enlarge the shareholder base and association of outside professionals.

The new arrangement has already been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). The announcement also made it clear that the change in the ownership of Pacra's shareholding has not led to any immediate change in the composition of the agency's board. However, it said: "The change in the ownership of the shareholding would be reflected in the board in future, which would provide additional professional input for policy-making."

The change in the shareholding would also not change the management structure of Pacra and present Chairman M. Khalil Mian and chief executive Javed Masud would continue to retain their respective positions, said the announcement.