Government of Pakistan
Privatization Commission

 PC INVITES EOI FOR SALE OF 51-74% EQUITY STAKE OF PAKISTAN STEEL MILLS CORPORATION LATEST BY OCTOBER 8, 2005

Islamabad, September 14, 2005

The Privatisation Commission ("PC") has invited qualified strategic Investors interested to submit an Expression of Interest ("EOI") for acquiring 51-74% equity stake in Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd. ("PSMC" or the "Company"), together with management control, on an 'as is, where is' basis latest by October 8, 2005. A consortium led by Citigroup Global Markets Limited is advising the PC on the sale

The interested parties have been asked to provide the information along with EOI including Name of company / group and their background information, Audited financial statements for the preceding three years and Details of ownership / group structure.

Upon receiving the EOIs and non-refundable processing fee of US$ 5,000/- or Pak Rupees 300,000/-, Request for Statement of Qualification ("RSOQ") will be dispatched to the interested investors immediately.


PSMC is the country's largest and only integrated steel manufacturing plant, with an annual designed production capacity of 1.1 million tonnes. It was incorporated as a private limited company in 1968 and commenced full-scale commercial operations in 1984. PSMC complex includes coke oven batteries, a sintering plant, blast furnaces, steel converters, bloom and slab casters, billet mill, hot and cold rolling mills, galvanizing unit and 165MW of own power generation units, supported by various other ancillary units.  It is located 30km south east of the coastal city of Karachi, in close proximity to Port Bin Qasim, with access to a dedicated jetty, which facilitates import of raw materials. PSMC manufactures a wide mix of products, which includes both flat and long products. PSMC effectively enjoys a captive domestic market due to the prevalent demand-supply imbalance in the country's steel industry, where demand has historically exceeded local supply.

At the back of sustained improvements in Pakistan's macroeconomic environment, the demand for steel in the country is expected to grow further. PSMC is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the expected demand growth as adequate infrastructure is already in place to cater to capacity expansion. PSMC also strives to maintain high quality and environmental standards and in this regard has received ISO 9001, ISO 1400-1 and SA 8000 certifications, along with the Environmental Excellence Award 2005.Preliminary information on PSMC is available on the following websites: www.paksteel.com.pk and www.privatisation.gov.pk
 

Source: http://www.privatisation.gov.pk/Handout/HO-AR-05/Sept-05/Handout%20Sept%202005.htm