KARACHI: Pakistani sugar giant JDW Sugar Mills announced this week that it has joined a consortium of companies that will collectively bid to acquire stakes in the state-owned Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO).
JWD Sugar Mills Limited is owned by JDW Group, which is headed by Jahangir Khan Tareen, a prominent businessman and politician. The group disclosed to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in a stock filing on Thursday that it has joined a consortium led by energy company Pakgen Limited to acquire stakes in FESCO.
Other members of the consortium include Nishat Mills Limited, Lalpir Limited, Nishat Power Limited, Nishat Chunian Power Limited, Kohinoor Energy Limited, Pak Elektron Limited, Deharki Sugar Mills (Private) Limited and ATF Agri Sciences (Private) Limited.
“In respect of the Transaction, the Company has resolved to join the proposed consortium comprising of the following members led by Pakgen Limited by amending the Statement of Qualification to participate in FESCO privatization,” JDW Sugar Mills Limited said in the stock filing.
JDW said it had not assumed any binding obligation in respect of the transaction as of the date of the notice, which remains subject to pre-qualification by the Privatization Commission and to all requisite corporate and regulatory approvals. The company said it would keep the PSX informed of material developments.
FESCO is one of three distribution companies in the first batch of the government’s power-sector privatization program, alongside the Gujranwala Electric Power Company and the Islamabad Electric Supply Company.
Pakistan invited Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from investors seeking to acquire 51 percent to 100 percent stakes in FESCO and two other power distribution companies in May.
Pakistan says it wants to privatize the distribution companies to improve service delivery and bring private-sector efficiency into a sector long weighed down by high transmission losses, weak bill recoveries and mounting circular debt.
The Privatization Commission said earlier this month that the 12 bidders who showed interest in acquiring stakes in FESCO include three consortia from Türkiye, one investor group from China and eight Pakistani business groups.
The disco sell-off is part of a broader restructuring of loss-making state-owned enterprises under Pakistan’s IMF-backed stabilization program, which requires the government to cut losses, improve recoveries and bring down circular debt. It follows the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines in December.
