KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has ordered that the status quo be maintained with respect to the attempt by a Turkish investor to buy more than 51 per cent shares and control of Tri-Star Power Ltd, a publicly listed electricity producer.

The power producer said on Monday the court order follows the suit it filed for a permanent injunction against Aykut Calikusu — a high net-worth individual from Turkey with core expertise in e-commerce and the sale of locally sourced products in the Gulf — on the grounds that he was acting “in concert with others” and was “illegally accumulating” shareholding while indulging in share price manipulation.

Tri-Star Power generates and distributes electricity on a rental basis to customers belonging to the same industrial group through a 10-megawatt plant installed on the premises of Image Pakistan in SITE, Karachi.

A person involved in the transaction from the side of the potential buyer alleged the company’s management was “stonewalling” the takeover attempt in violation of the regulations.

The Turkish investor formally approached the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on March 20 against the target company for not providing the “relevant and material information” required for due diligence.

In a subsequent correspondence, seen by Dawn, the apex regulator told the local power company on April 4 to “ensure meticulous compliance” with the takeover regulations and provide the potential acquirer with material information for due diligence.

Dawn tried to reach out to the management of Tri-Star Power, but there was no response on the company’s official phone number.

The Turkish investor issued its intention to buy majority shares of Tri-Star Power on March 9. Within a week, the target company alleged that the potential acquirer was causing “undue movement” in the share price.

The power producer said its share price witnessed an increase of 531pc in eight months, which reflected the “manipulation by the acquirer either directly or indirectly through the persons acting in concert”.

It said the share price saw a “continuous declining trend” after the public announcement of intention. “The proposed acquirer is not a shareholder of the target company. He is a Turkish citizen… and does not even have an account with CDC (Central Depository Company),” it added.

The company further alleged that the acquirer has neither the means nor the net worth to undertake such a transaction and is “merely acting as a frontman on behalf of others in order to bypass the regulations”.

The actual power production by the power plant is undeterminable because it generates electricity on demand. Before July 1, 2021, the company charged its electricity buyer on a per-unit basis.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2023