KARACHI: TRG Pakis­tan Ltd said on Friday that one of its associate companies, TRG International, has approved the allocation of its liquid assets to shareholders that will result in an inflow of about $120 million.

A regulatory filing said TRG Pakistan Ltd’s portion of the liquid assets will include $10m in deferred cash. In addition, the company will receive 5.4m shares of its listed portfolio company, Ibex Ltd.

TRG Ltd holds 45 per cent of TRG International that indirectly holds 63pc of Nasdaq-listed Ibex Ltd. Therefore, the value of the received Ibex Ltd shares will be around $72m based on the company’s last closing price of $13.40 on the US shares market, according to Topline Securities.

TRG International recently sold one of its businesses, E-Telequote. This resulted in TRG Pakistan Ltd getting an inflow of dollars in proportion to its shareholding in TRG International.

Topline Securities said TRG Pakistan Ltd has two options to spend the liquid asset consideration of $120m: it can either distribute it through a cash dividend or announce a share buyback. “Considering local regulations, we think a buyback is difficult. If TRG Pakistan Ltd decides to announce a cash dividend, then it could be about Rs33-35 per share based on $110m of liquid assets,” it added.

The company stated in its regulatory notice that the process and structure for the utilisation of the asset allocation will be finalised by Dec 31.

In a separate notice, the company said Hasnain Aslam has been appointed as director and CEO of TRG Pakistan Ltd with effect from Dec 10. He’s replaced Muhammad Ziaullah Khan Chishti who resigned on Nov 29 after an employee of a TRG Pakistan Ltd-related company testified before a committee of the US Congress last month that Mr Chishti sexually assaulted her during a business trip.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2021