KARACHI: The acceptance period for the acquisition of Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd shares under the public offer by Packages Ltd for up to 6.07 per cent shareholding in the pharmaceutical firm at Rs1,704 apiece will last from Aug 17 to Aug 23, said Arif Habib Ltd, manager to the offer, in a regulatory filing on Monday.

An investor consortium, led by Packages Ltd, signed a share purchase agreement in April with Sanofi Foreign Participants B.V. for the purchase of 52.87pc of the company’s shareholding at a price of Rs940 a share. The consortium already holds 28.49pc shareholding in Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd. The total shareholding of the consortium in the pharma firm will eventually increase to 81.36pc with the post-acquisition stake of Packages Ltd rising to 35pc.

Under the prevailing takeover laws, the consortium is required to purchase additional voting shares of up to 6.07pc of the total shareholding by way of a public offer. Therefore, Packages Ltd has offered to purchase the specified quantum of shareholding in Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd at Rs1,704 apiece under the public offer. The share price of the pharmaceutical company increased 4.9pc to Rs1,401 on Monday.

Nishat Chunian profit rises

Nishat Chunian Power Ltd recorded a net profit of Rs600 million for the April-June quarter, up 35 per cent from a year ago, a stock filing showed on Monday.

The quarterly earnings took the annual profit of the company to Rs2.5 billion, unchanged from the earnings recorded in 2020-21. Along with the result, the company declared a cash dividend of Rs10 a share.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2022