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K-Electric
Public energy utility in Pakistan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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K-Electric Limited, or KE, is a Pakistan-based investor-owned energy utility company headquartered in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Originally established as state-owned enterprise, the company was privatized in 2005, and is the only vertically integrated utility in Pakistan supplying electricity and distributing energy within the 6,500 square kilometres (2,500 sq mi) territory including Sindh and its areas to Balochistan.[2]
The company is listed in the PSX, in which, its majority of shares (66.4%) are owned by the KES Power, a joint venture of Al-Jomaih Power Limited of Saudi Arabia, National Industries Group of Kuwait, and the Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund (IGCF). The federal Government of Pakistan is listed as a minority shareholder with 24.36% holding in the company.[3]
The KE serves power to 3.7 million customers across Karachi, Dhabeji, and Gharo in Sindh, as well as Uthal, Vinder, and Bela in Balochistan.[4]
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In 1913, the British government in India formed a public utility as Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) to meet the electricity needs for then-a small port city, called Karachi, today one of the largest cities of the world. In 1952, the Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin's administration nationalized the KESC by awarding the contract to Pakistan Electric Power Company to act as managing and operating contractor to facilitate the public funding in response of the rapid increase in energy demands following a surge in the population of Karachi. In 1999, the Sharif administration handed over the contract to Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering of Pakistan Army to address the electricity theft issues.[5]
During the 2002-03, the company was rebranded as Karachi Electric Supply Corporation Limited (KESC Ltd.) with a major restructuring undertaken by Aziz administration, which included swapping ₨. 83 billion worth of debt for equity.[5] Additionally, the KESC reduced its capital by ₨. 57 billion to address its significant accumulated losses.[5]
In September 2003, the Privatization Commission initiated the sale of a 73% stake in Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), inviting expressions of interest from potential buyers.[5] After a year of rigorous due diligence by three pre-qualified bidders, a pre-bid conference was held on October 7, 2004, with the final bidding occurring on February 4, 2005.[5] The Saudi Arabian-based Kanooz al-Watan won the bid with an offer of ₨. 1.65 per share, totaling ₨. 20.24 billion, but failed to deposit the bid amount by the deadline despite receiving extensions.[5]
After unsuccessful attempts to secure payment, the Letter of Acceptance issued to Kanooz al Watan was cancelled and the second highest bidder, the Pakistan-based investors, Hassan Associates, was asked to match the bid of Kanooz al Watan and make payment as per the agreed bidding document. The Hassan Associates rebranded the company as KES Power Limited that would controls the business operations of the KESC. After going through pre-qualification process and making the requisite payments, and with all the relevant approvals, the Hassan Associates acquired the majority shareholding of 73% in KESC.[5][6] Subsequently, other consortium members divested their investment in KE through open market and KES Power became the single largest shareholder of KE.[7]
At present, KES Power has 66.40% shareholding in KE while KES Power which is now a joint venture of Saudi Arabian-based Al-Jomaih Power, National Industries Group of Kuwait, (27.7%), United States-based Denham Investment (18.5%) and UAE-based IGCF SPV 21 (53.8%).[8] The federal Government of Pakistan is listed as a minority shareholder with 24.36% holding in the company
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