Citi consortia to advise Pakistan's state oil firm on offshore bond sale

Pakistan's Privatisation Commission (PC) has entered into an agreement with a consortium comprising Citibank, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and BMA Capital, under which the consortia will advise the PC on the issuance of overseas exchangable bonds to monetise 10 per cent of the government's stake in Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL).

The consortium will advise the commission on the sale of overseas exchangeable bonds to raise around $500 million through monetisation of 10 per cent of Government of Pakistan (GoP) holding (ie, around 430,000,000 shares) in OGDCL.

Four consortia comprising leading financial institutions and investment banks have already filed their expressions of interest (EoIs) for acting as financial advisors to the issue, which will see the return of Pakistan to the international capital market for the first time since June 2007.

Imtiaz Kazi, secretary to Pakistan's Privatisation Commission, and Syed Sikander Zulqarnain, representing the consortium of Citibank, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and BMA Capital consortium, signed the financial advisory services agreement for OGDCL exchangeable bond issue.

OGDCL, the national oil and gas company of Pakistan, is also the local market leader in terms of reserves, production and exploration acreage. It is listed on all three stock exchanges in Pakistan and, in December 2006, the company also floated its stock on the London Stock Exchange.
 
The consortium will ensure finalisation of the deal within the deadline set by the Government of Pakistan.

Pakistan was forced to abandon a similar deal in 2008 under difficult market conditions. According to the PC, this is a landmark deal under which the consortium has been tasked to monetise up to 10 per cent of GoP shareholding in OGDCL via an exchangeable bond transaction.