ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: The Privatization Commission has decided to disinvest the government’s 49 per cent shares in the Allied Bank of Pakistan (ABL) through a public auction.

The commission has invited Expressions of Interests (EoIs) from interested parties who desired to be pre-qualified to take part in the bidding process for the government’s equity stakes, equivalent to 51.97 million.

The pre-qualification criteria will, primarily includes the State Bank of Pakistan’s requirements.

According to the commission, EoIs should be accompanied by a non-refundable processing fee of 5,000 dollar or Rs320,000 to be submitted latest by November 20, 2001.

Parties submitting EoIs with the required processing fee will be provided with a Request for Statement of Qualification (SOQ), which will include pre-qualification requirements. Subsequently, the pre- qualified parties will be provided with relevant documentation, including an information memorandum, and will be invited to attend the pre-bid meeting. A brief profile of the bank will be available from October 30, 2001 onwards from the offices and the web site of the commission.

ABL is one of the largest banks in the country, operating 884 branches nation-wide.

The commission has made it clear that it reserves the right to change the structure of sale and to reject any EoI without assigning any reason.

The consortium of ABN AMRO, NV and Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari & Co. Ltd is the Financial Advisor for ABL transaction.

Earlier, the commission had disinvested ABL’s 51 per cent shares to the employees group of the bank. There were reports that the employees group had sold major shares to different parties which had not been registered with the State Bank. “Therefore 51 per cent shares are considered to be with the employees group”, a source said.

The sell-off of the bank had been delayed due to certain litigation between the commission and the employees group. Now a concerned court had cleared the case, permitting the commission to go ahead with the disinvestment of remaining 49 per cent government’s shareholding in the bank.

Next in line is the privatization of United Bank before the end of 2001 to be followed by the Habib Credit and Exchange Bank, a subsidiary of the Habib Bank Limited (HBL). Concerned officials said that HBL’s privatization had also been planned and the transaction will be completed by 2002.