KARACHI, March 24: Ibrahim Fibres Ltd., polyester staple fibre maker, has pulled out of Rs20 billion deal to buy urea processing firm Pak-American Fertilisers Ltd (PAFL) from the government, officials said on Friday.

Ibrahim Fibres last month offered the highest bid of Rs667 per share for 30 million shares of the fertilizer company, which runs a 1,050 tons-a-day urea processing plant in Mianwali, Punjab.

“We have been informed by Ibrahim Fibres that they would not be able to complete the deal,” said Mansoor Zubair, Additional Secretary at the Privatization Commission.

“We received this information on March 21,” he told Reuters.

An official at Ibrahim Fibres said the company had forfeited Rs350 million deposit.

“We realized that this deal did not suit us. That is why we decided to pull out,” he said, without elaborating.

Analysts said they were not surprise the deal fell through.

—Reuters