Bahria Town to acquire investment bank

E-Paper | March 11, 2026

KARACHI: Bahria Town Ltd said on Tuesday it intends to acquire a majority shareholding in Escorts Investment Bank, a non-banking finance company.

In a regulatory filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, AKD Securities stated on behalf of Bahria Town that the real estate company is interested in buying up to 71.16 per cent shares in the relatively small investment bank along with management control.

Founded by property tycoon Malik Riaz, Bahria Town is currently led by its CEO Ahmed Ali Riaz Malik, while Bina Riaz is the only other director on its board.

Last year, Bahria Town showed interest in acquiring a majority stake in Burj Bank, but the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) turned down its request for unknown reasons.

Unlike Burj Bank that existed as a commercial bank and fell within the regulatory purview of the SBP, Escorts Investment Bank is a non-banking finance company regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

Unlike a commercial bank, investment banks deal mostly with the corporate sector, trade shares in bulk and do not accept deposits from the general public.

Lahore-based Essem Power Ltd currently owns 39pc shares in Escorts Investment Bank. Another 31.54pc shares in the bank are owned by its CEO Bashir Ahmed and three of his family members.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2017

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ABE

Feb 08, 2017 02:13pm

More power and influence for Malik Riaz..?

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asad

Feb 08, 2017 02:52pm

very good development to see Bahria town evolving as a company instead of a family business, that is the formula for success in modern world. family centric businesses vanish in few decades.

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Houlbelat

Feb 08, 2017 03:32pm

Malik Riaz is trying to diverge into the money market, which is highly volatile in Pakistan. Needs world class financial experts to be successful.

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hassan

Feb 08, 2017 03:33pm

@ABE Why not? There housing schemes are a model for many people.

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analyses

Feb 08, 2017 03:49pm

Good news..Bahria Town should use their wealth to diversify into other local businesses to give job opportunities to qualified individuals in finance, marketing, engineering etc other than real estate business.

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Feb 08, 2017 05:41pm

Progressing in leaps n bounds. Something smells!

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Rashid

Feb 08, 2017 06:27pm

Still he invests in Pakistan not in Dubai and England.

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Abdul

Feb 08, 2017 06:37pm

Escorts bank? Why they couldn't come up with a better name?

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Ittefaq

Feb 08, 2017 07:45pm

A complete recipe for disaster. He will price his merchandise at any ridiculous price, the bank ( owned by himself) will mortgage it for you ( no questions) asked and the gullible fools will end up being the prized owner of over priced properties in form of loans which they will pay until they die....the market will be moved up due to domino effect .... Its oldest trick in the book......thats how you defeat any remnant of competition and market economics affecting your merchandise...by buying a bank..

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GUEST

Feb 08, 2017 08:14pm

@Ittefaq Non-Banking Finance Companies deal with corporate customers not retail customers. His Bahria Town plot owners will be classified under retail customers hence they will not be able to take loans from his investment bank to finance purchases of plots and houses.

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Expert

Feb 08, 2017 11:34pm

It seems Malik Riaz is in pursue of long-term strategy. Impressive!

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IMRAN

Feb 09, 2017 12:20am

Unblock our files. Sadists.

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AwaN

Feb 09, 2017 01:08am

@Ittefaq You have given a long lecture here but you forgot to understand the difference in Investment bank and a normal commercial bank. Bahria town invested in one Investment bank. This type of bank serves the purpose of b2b and b2g transactions only. So your comment does not make sense as you are talking about the commercial bank here.

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Princess_of_DHUMP

Feb 09, 2017 01:30am

@Rashid Yes.. because there he cannot get away with unlawful land acquisitions and withholding the handover of plots/houses for years after receiving full payment

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Matt

Feb 09, 2017 06:41am

Who is regulating conflict of interest!

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Zia

Feb 09, 2017 07:10am

Do you remember any organized builder and developer in the country before Bahria? He has done by the same means, right or wrong, prevalent in the society. Atleast he has delivered quality product which none of billionaires in the country could do.

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