LAHORE, Dec 2: Justice Mohammad Sair Ali of the Lahore High Court on Thursday started the process for the sale of four units of Ittefaq Group of Industries afresh, giving a deadline of Jan 26 to get new bids from within the country and abroad.

According to the court, an advertisement should appear in the local and international press to call fresh bids for the sale of the Ittefaq Foundry and the Brothers Steel at Kot Lakhpat, the Ittefaq Brothers at Shahdara and the Ilyas Enterprises on Bund Road.

Bids had to be received by Jan 10 and a list of bidders finalized by a three-member committee set up by the court in 1998. The committee would open tenders the same day and also allow post-bidding bargain to ensure a higher price for the units. It would submit its report by Jan 13 and the court would decide on Jan 26 the successful bidder to be the owner of the units.

The court also gave approval to term and conditions for the advertisement which was directed to be released soon after the parties to the dispute deposited expenditures for the advertisement.

These units were sold to the Al-Rehmat Group of Companies for Rs2.15 billion. The terms and conditions had set this amount as a benchmark. Bids would accompany a bank draft of Rs5 million and the successful bidder would be required to deposit another Rs250 million soon after his company was declared the highest bidder.

According to the terms and conditions, the successful bidder would be required to deposit he remaining price in a year. If it wanted to take over the assets before one year, the firm had to deposit 50 per cent of the amount in cash and another half of it through bank guarantees.

National Bank of Pakistan, which headed a consortium of eight banks and other financial institutions which advanced loans to the family of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, moved an application on July 8 seeking a court approval of the sale of the units to the Al-Rehmat Group of Companies.

All the families of the Ittefaq Group questioned the sale on the ground that the price was low and the committee had sold them on an evaluation of the units made six years ago.