PC receives Rs12.01bn as final payment: NRL sell-off
By Our Reporter
ISLAMABAD, July 2: The Privatization Commission on Saturday received Rs12.011 billion as the remaining amount of the total offer of Rs16.415 billion for the strategic sale of 51 per cent (33,985,788 shares) shares of National Refinery Limited together with transfer of management control.
The pay order was handed over by an authorized representative of the Attock Oil Group of Companies.
Earlier, 25 per cent of the total offer worth Rs4.104 billion was received by the Privatization Commission on June 21 as the first instalment. A formal handing over ceremony is scheduled for July 7 in Karachi.
As per the sale agreement, the buyer was required to deposit the remaining 75 per cent amount within 60 days after issuance of letter of acceptance. The Attock Oil Group could have made the final payment of Rs12.011 billion (adjusted for Rs300 million earnest money already submitted by them) by August 6, 2005.
The bidding for NRL privatization was held on May 31, 2005 and the Cabinet Committee on Privatization approved the offer on June 7, 2005.
The commission engaged Citigroup Global Markets Limited of the UK in April last year to provide financial advisory services for the privatization of NRL.
Three pre-qualified bidders — Attock Oil Group, Crescent Steel and Allied Products and Shakarganj Mills limited and Fauji Foundation Consortium — had become eligible for the bidding after depositing Rs300 million each as earnest money by the due date.
The Attock Oil Group submitted the highest bid with an offer of Rs483 per share and a total bid value of Rs16.415 billion. Crescent Steel and Allied Products and Shakarganj Mills Limited was the second highest bidder with an offer of Rs260 per share and a total bid value of Rs8.836 billion, while Fauji Foundation Consortium was ranked third with an offer of Rs197 per share and a total bid value of Rs6.695 billion.
The Privatization Commission received 29 EoIs for NRL. Sixteen parties submitted their requests for statement of qualification. Among them 11 parties were pre-qualified for conducting due diligence in the data room. Six parties participated in the pre-bid conference, while three parties finally decided to participate in the final bidding.
National Refinery Limited was incorporated in Pakistan on August 19, 1963 as a public limited company. The refinery complex comprises two lube refineries, a fuel refinery and a benzenc, toulene and xylene plant, located at the Korangi Industrial Area in Karachi.
The company’s designed crude oil processing capacity is about 2.7 million tons per year (62,050bpsd) with a broad range of petroleum products. NRL enjoys the unrivalled business niche as the only local refinery to produce lube base oil (LBO) and the single largest producer of high quality asphalts. Effectively NRL has an 80 per cent share of the LBO market and 80 per cent share of asphalts.
In addition to indigenous blenders, LBO produced is sold to several MNC marketing companies where it serves as a key component in the production of high-end branded lubricants. In addition, the company produces other stringent international quality specification and it is certified in accordance with OHSAS-18001 and ISO-14001.
