ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission Board on Friday approved the prequalification of 10 out of 12 interested parties (IPs) for the sale of Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) after K-Electric withdrew its bid and the lone Chinese firm failed to demonstrate seriousness about the competition.
Informed sources said K-Electric, the country’s only privatised power utility, decided to withdraw rather than be disqualified because its financial accounts for the past two years were unavailable — a key conditionality. They said the company would be bidding for another distribution company as part of a consortium with Shahryar Chishti’s AsiaPak Investments, one of the major shareholders in KE.
“K-Electric has withdrawn its Expression of Interest (EoI) for Fesco’s privatisation,” a KE spokesperson confirmed when contacted. He said the decision was taken as KE’s audited financial statements were not yet available, pending the finalisation of the company’s Multi-Year Tariff (MYT), which was beyond KE’s control. “We remain committed to pursuing opportunities that maximise value for our stakeholders,” he said.
On the other hand, Jiang Xi Electric Power Construction of China did not meet the prequalification criteria because it submitted the EoI on the last day in Chinese and did not follow up with an English-language EoI despite repeated requests.
K-Electric withdraws, Chinese company rejected
The PCB meeting, presided over by the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Privatisation and the Chairman of the Privatisation Commission, approved all other prospective bidders to proceed to the next stage.
Following evaluation of the submissions against the approved prequalification criteria, the financial adviser recommended 10 IPs for prequalification and progression to the next stage of the transaction.
The list of 10 prequalified bidders now includes three from Turkiye, namely Aktor Elektrik Enerji Yatrmlar San. ve Tic. A.S., Genvera Enerji A.S. (Celik Group) and Cengiz Enerji Sanayii ve Ticaret A.S.
The remaining seven Pakistani groups now include Engro Energy Ltd, Sapphire Fibres Ltd, Hub Power Holdings, Lucky Cement and Metro Ventures, Shirazi Investments (Pvt) Ltd (Atlas group), Maple Leaf Cement and Kohinoor Cement, Pakgen Ltd Consortium comprising Nishat Mills, Nishat Power, Nishat Chunian, Lalpir, Pak Elektron Ltd & Kohinoor Energy and the last one Artistic Milliners (Pvt) Ltd.
The prequalified parties will now proceed to the next stage of the transaction in accordance with the approved process, including access to the Virtual Data Room (VDR) for detailed buy-side due diligence.
The board also approved the reconstitution of its Audit and Risk, Human Resources, Investment, and Legal Committees.
The privatisation is intended to improve operational efficiency, modernise distribution infrastructure, strengthen customer service, reduce losses and support a more financially sustainable power sector. Over time, these measures will help create the conditions for more competitive electricity distribution and affordable, reliable power for consumers, the Privatisation Commission said.
Fesco is among the three electricity distribution companies in Disco Batch-I privatisation, alongside Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) which attracted 11 EoIs, most of them also in the run for Fesco and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco). The deadline for submission of EoIs for Iesco has been extended to Sept 21.
Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2026
