Eleven pre-qualified parties will submit their bids on Tuesday for the purchase of 51 percent (33,985,788 shares) equity stake in the National Refinery Limited (NRL) together with management control, Privatisation Commission (PC) announced here on Monday. The announcement said that the PC had finalised all arrangements to hold the NRL bidding, in the presence of representatives of the print and electronic media, for the sale of 51 percent shares of the company on 'as is, where is' basis.
The proceedings to be chaired by Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, are to take place on May 31, 2005 at 1300 hours at Marriott Hotel Islamabad. The federal minister for petroleum & natural resources and PC board members will also be present on this occasion.
Eleven pre-qualified parties, who completed their due diligence in the data room, included: Abraaj Green Consortium, Al Ghurair Investments, Attock Oil Group, Crescent Steel and Allied Products and Shakarganj Mills Limited, Fauji Foundation, Gharibwal Cement Limited and consortium, Gul Ahmed Group, KPC Holdings (Aruba) AEC, Lukoil International Trading and Supply Company, Orient Petroleum Inc and consortium and Pakistan Refinery Limited.
Privatisation commission engaged Citigroup Global Markets Limited of UK in April last year to provide financial advisory services for the privatisation of the National Refinery Limited.
PC invited expressions of interest (EOIs) from interested parties to acquire the indicated shareholding and management control in the company on October 23, 2004. They received unprecedented response for the privatisation of National Refinery Limited (NRL), which set a new record as regards the participation in this transaction, by 29 local and foreign investors.
For the financial year ended June 30, 2004, NRL's net sales were more than Rs 40 billion and profit after tax was Rs 1,850 million. The company's financial performance has improved consistently over the last seven years.
National Refinery Limited was incorporated in Pakistan on August 19, 1963 as a public limited company. The refinery complex comprises two lube refineries, a fuel refinery and a benzene, tuolene and xylene plant, located in the Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi.
The company's designed crude oil processing capacity is about 2.7 million tonnes per year (62,050 bpd) with a broad range of petroleum products to cater to Pakistan's growing demand for petroleum products. NRL is uniquely positioned in the economic landscape of Pakistan, where it occupies an unrivalled business niche as the only local refinery to produce lube base oils (LBO) and the single largest producer of high quality asphalt.
Effectively, NRL has an 80 percent share of the LBO market and 80 percent share of asphalt. In addition to indigenous blenders, LBO produced is sold to several MNC marketing companies where it serves as a key component in the production of high-end branded lubricants.
In addition, the company produces other value added petroleum products, specialty oils and stack waxes. NRL products adhere to stringent international quality specifications and the company is certified in accordance with OHSAD-18001 and ISO-14001.