ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) approved the floor price at Rs105 a share for the divestment of government’s stake in the Allied Bank Limited (ABL).

The government’s residual shareholding of over 10 per cent in the bank comprises around 131 million shares.

The Privatisation Com-mission’s board met earlier in the day and considered the ABL pricing benchmarks as presented by the lead manager and book-runners, and recommended the floor price, the lowest price a government allows a good to be sold for, at Rs105 to the CCoP. This translates into a discount of 7.6pc, or Rs9.69, per share to the closing price of Rs113.69 on Dec 9.

Book-building is starting from today (Dec 10) till tomorrow from 9am to 5pm. The Privatisation Com-mission’s board has already approved appointment of the consortium of Elixir Securities, MCB Bank and AKD Securities as lead manager and book runner for the divestment of government residual shares in ABL.

The strike price, at which ABL’s share will be offered to successful bidders, will be determined after 5pm on Thursday, and will then be submitted to the commission’s board for consideration and approval. The recommendations of the board will subsequently be presented to CCoP for approval.

The strike price will be calculated through the Dutch Auction Method, which will determine the maximum price at which all the offered shares are subscribed.

The CCoP’s meeting — chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — was attended by Federal ministers Pervaiz Rashid, Khurram Dastgir, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and Privatisation Commission’s Chairman Muhammad Zubair, Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masoodand Adviser (finance division) Rana Asad Amin.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2014