KARACHI, Feb 17: The offer for sale of shares of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited has been oversubscribed by 16 times, said a press release issued by the Karachi Stock Exchange.

"As per the provisional figures of subscription received today from the lead managers to the offer, the public issue has been oversubscribed by 16 times," stated the KSE press statement, adding that an amount of Rs10,997.368 billion had been collected by the bankers to the issue, as against the public offer of Rs671.174 million, including the greenshoe option.

The total number of applications received stood at 197,621, including around 150,000 applications for 1,000 shares. The KSE stated that the total subscription figures were still to be finalized, since the figures from the two commercial banks were still to be received by Tuesday evening.

The KSE said that the encouraging response received in the disinvestment of shares of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited reflected investors' interest in the stock market and that it would pave the way for other issues that are likely to be offered by the Privatization Commission, as well as the IPOs by the private sector.