April 18, 2006	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19, 1427

ISLAMABAD, April 17: The Privatisation Commission (PC) has received the first instalment of 25 per cent of the bid amount from the successful bidder Azgard-9 amounting to Rs4.027 billion (Rs4 billion 27 million five hundred thousand only) for the strategic sale of Pak American Fertilizers Ltd (PAFL) as per the terms of the bid documents. The remaining amount of the price will be paid within 60 days after the issuance date of the Letter of Acceptance (LoA).

According to a handout issued here on Monday the PC issued the LoA in favour of the second highest bidder — Azgard-9 and Jehangir Siddiqui Securities Consortium— for the strategic sale of PAFL Ltd., at their offer of Rs16.11 billion at the rate of Rs5.37 per share.

It may be recalled that pursuant to the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP)’s decision on March 31, Azgard, the second highest bidder, was issued LoA after the first bidder failed to comply with the terms of the bid as per the terms of the LoA.

Mr Ahmed Shaikh, CEO of Azgard, while depositing the 25 per cent down-payment as per share purchase agreement, expressed the hope that through this acquisition his group had embarked on a public private partnership project. He expressed his intentions to make fresh investment for expansion of the plant capacity and to increase the production in order to bridge the shortfall in the demand and supply of urea.

“We are determined to work in order to create a win-win scenario for both the public and private sectors and operate in a highly socially responsible manner supporting the community, the environment and the workforce.” he added.

The Azgard CEO assured that every employee, who wishes to work on merit basis, would be retained.

Azgard is a leading value added textile exporting firm with a compact spinning, weaving and garment manufacturing unit with an expected sales of Rs7 billion this year. It has acquired PAFL in partnership with Jehangir Siddiqui Securities, one of the leading groups in the financial sector.

The PAFL is the first fertilizer manufacturing concern in Pakistan. It was established in 1959. The bidding for the privatisation of PAFL was held at Karachi on Feb 28.