ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: The over-subscription of OGDCL's domestic offering is a significant success and it sends a strong signal of investors’ confidence in the company and economic reforms of the government.

The government will continue to vigorously pursue its approved privatisation programme, said Zahid Hamid, the federal minister for privatisation and investment while commenting on the success of the recent domestic retail offering.

It would certainly set the pace for the other upcoming initial and retail domestic offerings, he added.

The minister on Monday announced the successful oversubscription for the domestic retail offering of ordinary shares of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL).

Giving details of the final domestic retail offer he said that the offer was priced at Rs110 per share, which was at a discount to the market price and to the price at which Global Depository Shares were allocated to the institutional investors on November 30, 2006.

As per details gathered by Noble Computer Services (Pvt) Limited, the balloters for the secondary domestic offering of OGDCL shares was oversubscribed by 38 per cent as the applications received amounted to Rs3.268 billion (Rs3,268,778,810 million) while the amount required to be realised through this retail offering was Rs2.365 billion.

The total number of applications received was 34,758 comprising 33,715 applications for 500 shares and 1,043 for over 500 shares.

The total number of OGDCL shares offered by the Privatisation Commission was 21,505,000 million.

The Offer represents 0.5 per cent of OGDCL's outstanding shares. The offer was launched through publication of Offer for Sale Document (OFSD) on December 30, 2006.

The management of OGDCL and BMA Capital held road shows for the general public at all the three stock exchanges where presentations on the company were given to the retail investors.

The subscriptions received by the 12 bankers to the offer in their branches all over the country.

All applications for 500 shares will be accommodated.

Applications of over 500 shares will be allotted on pro-rata basis according to the basis of allotment published in OFSD.

The shares will be transferred to the successful applicants within 30 days from the close of subscription i.e. February 12, 2007.

BMA Capital, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs International are joint lead managers with Citigroup and Goldman Sachs International acting as joint global coordinators and book runners for the international offering.