April 03, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1428

ISLAMABAD, April 2: The Privatisation Commission Board on Monday decided that it should hold another meeting to see if the Attock Oil Group could be allowed to bid for the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) without due diligence under an interim order of the Sindh High Court.

It, however, released the names of seven pre-qualified parties and said they had completed the first phase of the due diligence on Friday last. Technically, due diligence is a must for a company to take part in the bidding.

The minister for privatisation and investment Zahid Hamid, who presided over the board, when contacted, said that the board reviewed the privatisation status of the Pakistan State Oil and a list of seven consortiums has been released that would take part in the bidding.

Asked about the Attock Group’s exclusion from the bidding and related order of the Sindh High Court of Friday that allowed the company to be part of the bidding, the minister said the privatisation commission’s transaction committee on PSO was required to submit its recommendations on the subject and hence it would not be proper to comment on the subject.

He said the board meeting has been reconvened on April 4 to look into the recommendations of the transaction committee.

Responding to another question, he said that the bidding for PSO had tentatively been fixed for May.

The names of these parties along with their proposed consortium members are (I) Al Jamaih Holding Company Consortium, including Noor Investment Company and Fauji Foundation, (2) Dabbagh Holding Company Limited Consortium, including Savola Group and Goldman Sachs (3) Bakri Energy Company Consortium, with Salsal Petroleum (4) Kohinoor Textile Mills Consortium, including Oman Oil Marketing Company, (5) MCB Bank Limited Consortium, with Petronas Intl. Ltd. (6) TransAsia Gas Intl and Vitol S.A.