ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission Board on Friday approved the prequalification of 10 out of 12 interested parties (IPs) for the sale of Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) after K-Electric withdrew its bid and the lone Chinese firm failed to demonstrate seriousness about the competition.
Informed sources said K-Electric, the country’s only privatised power utility, decided to withdraw rather than be disqualified because its financial accounts for the past two years were unavailable — a key conditionality. They said the company would be bidding for another distribution company as part of a consortium with Shahryar Chishti’s AsiaPak Investments, one of the major shareholders in KE.
“K-Electric has withdrawn its Expression of Interest (EoI) for Fesco’s privatisation,” a KE spokesperson confirmed when contacted. He said the decision was taken as KE’s audited financial statements were not yet available, pending the finalisation of the company’s Multi-Year Tariff (MYT), which was beyond KE’s control. “We remain committed to pursuing opportunities that maximise value for our stakeholders,” he said.
On the other hand, Jiang Xi Electric Power Construction of China did not meet the prequalification criteria because it submitted the EoI on the last day in Chinese and did not follow up with an English-language EoI despite repeated requests.
