January 15, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 05, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 14: Shirazi Capital (Pvt) Ltd — an unlisted corporate entity — informed the Karachi Stock Exchange on Monday that it had acquired a little over 19 per cent stake, each, in two stock market quoted companies: Atlas Battery Limited and the Atlas Engineering Limited (the latter being the new signature of Allwin Engineering Industries Limited).

The information was conveyed to the Exchanges under the provisions of section 4 of Listed Companies (Substantial Acquisition of Voting Shares and Takeovers) Ordinance, 2002.

The notice circulated on Monday states: “Shirazi Capital (Pvt) Limited has acquired 1.33 million shares in Atlas Battery Limited from the ‘present beneficial owners’ of the Atlas Battery Limited.”

In a separate notification, it informed of the purchase of 2.37 million shares of Atlas Engineering Limited from the ‘present beneficial owners’ of that company.

The new acquisitions in AEL would amount to 19.25 per cent of the paid-up capital (voting shares) in the company and 19.12 per cent in case of ABL.

Since all three companies fall under the fold of the Shirazi group, it is not quite clear whether the acquisitions by Shirazi Capital (Pvt) Limited means merely reshuffle of the equity among group companies or the term ‘present beneficial owners’ allude to acquisitions from ‘outside shareholders’.

In either case, it would have been of interest to shareholders, if the purchase price per share had been mentioned.

The concerned regulation may not require Yusuf H. Shirazi, the founder of the group and perhaps its largest stakeholder, to give away that information, but it would surely have added to the public knowledge.