Good news, that foreigner companies are willing to invest more billions in Pakistan.
Pakistan Gets 11 Bids for 51% of Pakistan Petroleum
OMV AG, central Europe’s biggest oil company, and 10 other potential investors offered to buy a stake with a market value of more than $1 billion in state-owned Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., the nation’s second-largest explorer. The Austrian company was joined by BP Pakistan Exploration & Production, a unit of BP Plc, BG Group Plc, the U.K.-based natural-gas producer and shipper, and Canada’s Centurion Energy International in bidding for the 51 percent stake, the asset-sale agency said in a statement today. These are quality names,'' said Murad Ansari, head of research at KASB Securities in Karachi. This shows the risk appetite of investors. Pakistan Petroleum is a profitable company and investors are hoping for good returns.‘’
Pakistan is selling the stake as part of a government asset sale program aimed at raising funds to pay more than $36 billion of overseas debt and meet commitments made to the International Monetary Fund in return for a three-year, $1.5 billion loan it was given in December 2001. The government is betting on accelerating economic growth to attract investors. Pakistan’s economy may expand 7.5 percent in the fiscal year to June 30, the fastest in 13 years, Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan said this month. The interest shown by investors signals their ``confidence in the government’s economic management policies,‘’ the Privatization Commission, or asset-sale agency, said in its statement.
Bidders
International Sovereign Energy Corp. of Canada, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co., MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas Plc, Pakistan’s Orient Petroleum Inc. and Dewan Salman Fibres Ltd., and the U.K.'s Tysons Oil and Energy were the other bidders. The statement said two Chinese entities it identified as China National Offshore Oil & Gas Exploration and ZhenHua Oil Co. teamed up to bid for the stake. The government may raise 62.6 billion rupees ($1.05 billion) from the sale at the company’s current share price. Pakistan Petroleum’s shares fell 1 percent to 179 rupees at the close of the Karachi Stock Exchange today. In August, Pakistan raised 5.6 billion rupees by selling 15 percent of the company on the stock market.
Asset Sales
Pakistan Petroleum had natural gas reserves of 6.9 trillion cubic feet and oil reserves of 15 million barrels as of July 1, 2004, the statement said. The company owns the nation’s biggest natural gas field, Sui, located in Baluchistan Province. Since November 2002, Pakistan has raised 88 billion rupees by selling state assets. Habib Bank Ltd., the country’s second- biggest lender, was sold for $390 million to Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development in 2003. Karachi Electric Supply Corp., the second biggest utility, was sold in February for $266 million to Saudi Arabia’s Kanooz Al-Watan-led group. The government plans to invite final bids for a 26 percent stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Co., the nation’s No.1 phone company, on June 10. It’s also seeking bids for a 51 percent stake in Pakistan State Oil Ltd., the biggest supplier of fuels, by June-end.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aZpdFzmSxPJM&refer=asia
