KARACHI, June 21: The Privatization Commission on Tuesday invited Hassan Associates, the running bidder for the privatization of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, for negotiations to match the highest bid.

The highest bid of Rs1.65 a share was offered by a Saudi investors’ group, Kanooz al Watan, for the acquisition of 73 per cent shares of the utility. However, the group, after having been given a number of extensions, failed to deposit even a token sum of the bid money by June 15. The Cabinet Committee on Privatization headed by the prime minister decided to exclude the Saudi group from participation in the KESC privatization.

In pursuance of this decision, the Privatization Commission has been authorized to engage and invite Hassan Associates, the second highest bidder, in negotiations for “matching the highest bid”. Hassan Associates had offered Rs1.01 for a share, while the reference price for the bidding was said to be Rs1.30 a share.

“The commission invited us for negotiations on Friday (June 24) but we intend to talk on Monday (June 27),” Farooq Hassan, spokesman for Hassan Associates, informed Dawn.

Mr Hassan said that his group welcomed the offer made by the commission and “we approach the entire issue very positively”. His assertion was that Hassan Associates is almost a Pakistani and a Karachi-based investors group that has shared, with 15 million people of the city, frequent power breakdowns. “It is our vested interest to improve the power generation and supply in the city and make our living comfortable and contribute to enhancement in industrial and commercial activities,” Mr Hassan stated.