Saudi Arabian and Pakistani investors are battling for control of one of Pakistan’s biggest power companies, a fight that threatens to derail not just reform of K-Electric but also Saudi investment in a country that desperately needs it.
Al Jomaih Power, a Saudi company that with Kuwaiti fund Denham Investment bought a stake in K-Electric during its privatisation in 2005, is pitted against Shaheryar Chishty and his company AsiaPak Investments, which bought a stake three years ago from the liquidator for collapsed private equity group Abraaj.
The Gulf investors want to block Chishty and his allies from taking board seats, according to Cayman court documents seen by the Financial Times, claiming the sale by the liquidator violated a pre-existing shareholder agreement and Pakistani disclosure and security clearance rules.