KARACHI: Packages Ltd has decided to become a part of the investor consortium to conduct due diligence for the potential purchase of the entire 52.87 per cent shareholding that Sanofi Foreign Participants BV controls in Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd.

According to a stock notice on Monday, other members of the Packages Ltd-led investor consortium are IGI Investments Ltd and the affiliates of the Arshad Ali Gohar Group.

Sanofi Foreign Participations BV is the Netherlands-based parent company while the ultimate parent of Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd is Sanofi SA, which is incorporated in France.

The local entity is engaged in the manufacturing and selling of pharmaceutical, consumer health care products and vaccines.

In a separate notice, Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd said it does not expect any disruption to the manufacturing, marketing, distribution or availability of company products in the country.

The latest annual report of Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd shows IGI Investment Ltd — which is a subsidiary of Packages Ltd and a part of the investor consortium — already owns a 19.1pc stake in the company as the second largest shareholder. Arshad Ali Gohar was the third largest shareholder with an 8.46pc stake at the end of 2020.

The share price of Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd increased 7.5pc to Rs568.35 on Monday.

The stock of Packages Ltd also climbed 1.68pc Rs493.80 apiece.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2021