ISLAMABAD, Nov 8: Siemens Pakistan on Tuesday signed an agreement with Privatization Commission (PC) for acquiring 53 per cent shares of Carrier Telephone Industries (CTI) held by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).

The share purchase agreement (SPA) was signed by Privatization Commission Secretary M. Tahsin Khan Iqbal, PTCL CEO Junaid Khan and Siemens Pakistan Divisional Director Sheikh Tahir Javed.

The PC offered 53 per cent shares held by PTCL in CTI for sale to a qualified investor as “a going concern” basis with management control, as a part of the privatization process of the telecommunication sector.

Tahsin Khan Iqbal on the occasion said that the most significant part of this transaction was that whereas the world’s one of the best electronic company, Siemens, now would actively be running this factory, the surplus land measuring 46,111 sq yard, which had been attached to CTI but not hitherto utilized by CTI would revert to Government of Pakistan (GoP). The CTI was carved out of PTCL so as to be able to maximize revenues for the GoP, he added.

Mr Iqbal further informed that after receiving Rs500 million, the SPA was being signed and the management of CTI was simultaneously being handed over to the Siemens.

The legal status of the capital structure is: PTCL-8,016 ordinary shares of Rs1,000 each and Siemens AG, Germany-7,251, 5 per cent cumulative preference shares of Rs1,000 each. Siemens finally offered Rs62,375 per share and a total price of Rs500 million for 8,016 shares of PTCL in CTI.

CTI’s principal business is manufacturing of transmission equipment for telecommunication services and equipped with the state-of-the-art machinery, which include Digital Microwave Radio, Mux for Optical Fibre, Rural Digital Branch Exchange, Single Channel VHF Radio. CTI is located at Industrial Area Sector I-9/2, Islamabad.

Alois G. Zollner, senior vice president of Siemens, appreciating the professional approach of the Privatization Commission said that investment in CTI was a cornerstone investment in Pakistan and Siemens has supported the ongoing privatization programme of Pakistan.

Later talking to newsmen, the Secretary PC said that the consortium of Hasan Associates with Al-Jummaih Group of Saudi Arabia had deposited $100 million for signing the Shares Purchase Agreement (SPA) for Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), which he hoped would be handed over to the buyer by the end of the current month.