Businessmen consortium to buy Abraaj stake in Byco
Aftab Ahmed
Islamabad: Local leading businessmen’s consortium is set to buy 22 per cent stakes of Abraaj Group in Byco refinery in Pakistan.
Sources told Newztodays.com that deal is at the final stage and the share purchase agreement will be signed in the next few days.
Byco located in the Hub area of Balochistan is Pakistan’s leading Petroleum Company is operating for oil refining, petroleum marketing, and petroleum logistics. Headquartered in Karachi.
Byco has the capacity to refine 155,000 barrels a day. It converts crude oil into various saleable components which included LPG, Light Naphtha, Heavy Naphtha, High Octane Blending Component. Other components include Motor Gasoline, Kerosene, Jet Fuels, High-Speed Diesel and Furnace Oil.
The move comes in wake of the new oil refinery policy which proposes 10 per cent protection for existing refineries.
It also offers some incentives for up-gradation projects for existing refineries on the model of incentives for new refineries.
Officials said that with upcoming projects in special economic zones (SEZs), the demand for petroleum products would further increase.
In addition, the government claims that Pakistan still needs two refineries with an accumulative refining capacity of 400,000 barrels per day.
Therefore, Byco has still a lot of potential for business in coming years keeping in view the rising demand for petroleum products, an industry official said.
Officials said that Byco is going to finalize a Karachi based business group as a financial advisor in a couple of days to materialize the sale of Abraaj stakes in the refinery.The business group will also acquire some Abraaj’s stakes in refinery.
After signing a deal, a financial advisor will also have a mandate to negotiate a deal with a consortium of businessmen to acquire stakes in the Byco refinery.
According to media reports, Byco management had also settled an issue with National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Therefore, now the road is clear for maturing a deal, industry officials added.
