ISLAMABAD: Minister for Privatisa­tion Mohammadmian Soomro said on Thursday that the land valuation of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) would be completed by the end of this month while the expressions of interest would be called in March.

Presiding over a meeting regarding transaction updates, legal matters and e-office, Mr Soomro said that detailed meetings were being held almost on a daily basis with potential investors from China, Russia and South Korea on the revival of the Steel Mills.

The transaction structure of PSM has already been approved by the Privatisation Commission’s board as well as the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation. Under the transaction structure, majority of the shares will be divested.

Following the approval of the transaction structure, financial advisers have been asked to move ahead with procedural follow-up processes expeditiously. After conducting the due process, the Privatisation Commission has appointed Pak-China Investment Company and BOC International as joint lead financial advisers.

Says contacts made with investors from China, Russia and South Korea for revival of PSM

The financial advisers have proposed options, including sale of majority shares to the newly-formed company or transferring identified core operating assets to a private sector strategic partner by entering into lease agreement for a longer period.

The meeting also discussed matters relating to the privatisation and divestment of shares and options regarding management control of electricity distribution companies (Discos), and decided that a final decision to this effect would be taken after receiving the proposals from the Ministry of Power and the stakeholders concerned.

Concerning the digitalisation of data, the minister told officials of the Privatisation Commission that legal and policy matters relating to privatisation must be taken into account and legal cases must be disposed of in a transparent and efficient manner.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2021