KARACHI, March 16: The government plans to hold an auction on May 5 to sell a majority stake in Pakistan State Oil (PSO) worth about $530 million, a tentative schedule sent to pre-qualified bidders showed.

Privatisation of PSO, which has a market capitalisation of just over $1 billion, has been postponed several time due to lukewarm interest from investors.

But analysts say good interest has been seen in the company this time, raising hopes of a successful sell-off.

The potential bidders will conduct due-diligence for PSO, the country’s top oil marketing company, from March 19 to March 30, said the letter sent to one of the pre-qualified bidders.

This will be followed by submission of questions by April 16, and an investor forum on April 23. The tentative date for the closing of the transaction is June 29, it said.

US investment firm JP Morgan, the financial adviser for the sale, sent the letter to bidders, outlining the timeline for the transaction and inviting them for the due-diligence.

The government, which plans to sell a 51 per cent stake in PSO, had previously said that it was aiming to complete the sale before the 2006-07 fiscal year ends on June 30. It owns 54 per cent stake of the firm.

There was no mention in the letter as to how many companies have pre-qualified for bidding.

The Privatisation Commission said the dates were indicative.

“All the dates are tentative, and will be firmed up by the Privatisation Commission board," Tahir Parwaz, the commission’s spokesman, said.

The board is expected to meet next week.

The bidders short-listed for the deal include Abraaj Capital, Abu Dhabi Group, Al-Ghurair Investment -- all from the United Arab Emirates; a consortium grouping Saudi-based Aljomaih Group and Kuwait’s Noor Financial Investment; Bakri International Energy Systems, Dabbagh Group Holding of Saudi Arabia, Goldman Sachs (Asia) Finance and Vitol S.A. of Switzerland.

Pakistani firms that qualified for bidding are MCB Bank, Fauji Foundation, Attock Group of Companies and the Kohinoor Group, which is led by Kohinoor Textile.

MCB Bank will bid for Pakistan State Oil in partnership with Malaysian oil giant Petronas.

—Reuters