ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The Privatisation Commission (PC) on Wednesday received keen interest from several reputable parties in response to its recent re-advertisement for the proposed sale of 51 per cent shares of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) with management control indicating the confidence of investors in the strength and performance of the Pakistan’s economy in general and PSO in particular.

According to a statement the PSO is the largest oil marketing company in Pakistan and is engaged in the storage, distribution and marketing of petroleum products.

Currently it had approximately 3,700 retail outlets spread across the country. With an addition of 209 leased retail outlets, the new vision network would be expanded to 1,459 across the country.

For the year ending June 2006, the PSO sales revenue was in excess of Rs352 billion ($123 million). PSO was listed on all three stock exchanges in Pakistan, and is the recipient of the Karachi Stock Exchange top 25 companies’ award for 18 consecutive years. It was rated as “AAA” (Triple A) company by Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (Pacra).

The parties and groups which had submitted their Statement of Qualifications (SoQs) and reaffirmed their continuing interest by the due date of January 15 to participate in the privatisation process of PSO are: Abraaj Capital, UAE; Abu Dhabi Group, UAE; Al-Ghurair Investment, UAE; consortium of Aljomaih Group, Saudi Arabia and Noor Financial Investment, Kuwait; and National Industries Group, Bakri International Energy Systems and Dabbahg Group Holding, Saudi Arabia; Goldman Sachs (Asia) Finance; Vitol SA (Switzerland) and MCB Bank; Fauji Foundation; Attock Group of companies; and Kohinoor Group led by Kohinoor Textiles from Pakistan.

In addition some other parties, who indicated their interest but did not submit their SoQs, include the PSO employee group.

Last year Expressions of Interest (EoIs) were invited from parties interested in acquiring the indicated shareholding and management control in PSO.

The parties, who subsequently submitted their SoQs, were allowed to conduct due diligence and provided the draft transaction documents. Such parties who had already submitted an EoI along with the requisite processing fee in response to the earlier advertisement were not required to submit a fresh EoI. However they were asked to update their SoQs with any outstanding information by January 15.

Given the keen interest indicated by investors another opportunity was given to new investors to join the process. Parties joining the process at this stage would have to work under a tight schedule as the transaction formalities had been nearly completed with bidding targeted for March 2007.