KARACHI: Universal Network Systems Ltd (UNSL) said on Friday a fintech has bought 2.7 million shares constituting 10 per cent shareholding of the logistics firm operating under the brand name of BlueEX.

ABHI Ltd is a startup that provides earned wage access, payroll solutions and invoice factoring, which means selling control of one’s accounts receivable.

Speaking to Dawn, UNSL Chief Financial Officer Salman Hameed refused to reveal the exact size of the transaction. However, the transaction size would be around Rs168.6m if the deal took place at the prevailing share price of Rs61.50 apiece. The company is currently valued at Rs1.68 billion.

UNSL is one of the three firms that are currently listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s Growth Enter­prise Market or GEM counter — a sideboard on the exchange reserved for sma­ller and riskier businesses.

UNSL was incorporated in 2005 as a domestic cargo consolidator. It shifted its focus towards e-commerce logistics in 2011 and conducted the country’s first cash-on-delivery shipment under the BlueEX brand.

In November 2021, UNSL sold one-quarter of its shareholding to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals at the rate of Rs65 per share to raise Rs446m. The objective was to generate funds for the infrastructure expansion of the company, which aimed to take the number of its nationwide distribution hubs from 35 to 160 in three years.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2023