KARACHI (The Thursday Times) — Fauji Foundation has bought a 19.70 percent stake in Pakistan Services Limited, the owner of the Pearl Continental hotel chain, for about Rs6.55 billion, the company told the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
The foundation, one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates, acquired 6,406,797 voting shares on November 2 at Rs1,022.42 a share, according to the disclosure. The purchase is worth about $23.7 million. Pakistan Services said it had received a letter from the foundation dated November 2 making the disclosure required under the Securities Act.
Pakistan Services, set up in 1958, owns and manages the Pearl Continental chain, grants franchises for its name, and runs a smaller budget hotel in Lahore.
Its shareholding has changed hands several times recently. In July last year, AKD Group Holdings bought a 27.95 percent stake for more than Rs6.36 billion, and Dawood Jan Mohammad acquired 28 percent of the voting shares at Rs700 a share. Thatta Cement then announced it was acquiring a 28 percent stake for Rs6.45 billion, at Rs710 a share.
In September this year, Thatta Cement reached an understanding in principle on a proposed restructuring of the company, to resolve a matter pending before the Islamabad High Court.
