Builders and Bakers eyeing Banks

That a number of banks in Pakistan have been looking for buyers has been one of the worst kept secrets. That, the number of banks willing to be bought has increased of late is one of the better kept ones. Don’t mistake it for bad books or struggling profits. It just so happens that the appetite for some foreign investors has been filled – and there is little harm in cashing on in good times and good rates.

A tentative list of prospective buyers has been making rounds in the market. And that includes almost every billionaire entity, not owning a bank at the moment. The who’s who in the list makes sense too, because buying mid-sized and fast growing banks is not for the feint hearted and small pocketed. Things are generally looking up for the banking sector, so even the feint hearted can enter. But that essentially means deeper pockets.

But the list of potential buyers is bigger than just the more obvious ones. And not everyone eying a bank may have all-out formal and documented books and business ventures. Don’t mistake it for ill-gotten wealth. It may well all be hard earned crystal clear money. Only that the central bank may have other opinions. As it did, when a certain billionaire was barred from buying a bank, via an offshore entity.

There is a certain real estate tycoon believed to be seriously interested in adding a bank to his repertoire. And they say, when he is interested, he usually ends up going the extra mile to make it happen. This could be good news for those on sale. Let’s not name names, but he could pay for a bank without dropping a sweat. And that too, in cash, some say.

A certain retail chain of food products based in Lahore, better known as bakers, is also believed to be queued up. A representative of the said food chain also sits on the board of directors, of a certain bank, owning a good chunk of shares. Even that bank is believed to be looking for buyers. Whether the director, extends his family business empire, with the company he already has stakes in or looks for other avenues, could be left for some other day.

None of it is likely in the near term. One, because the central bank has not been intimated by any bank. Two, because the banking stocks may rally, after the budget and elections, when the jitters are over and the spreads are up. That is when the stocks may rise, and no single seller seems distressed to sell in a hurry.

It increasingly appears the central bank will be left to make some easy, and some not-so-easycalls, sooner or later. Mind you, public money is what goes at stake – and pedigree is what it may take to get the ball rolling.