Bahria Town Private Limited (BTPL) will acquire a brokerage house after it has entered a deal to buy major stakes in an investment bank.
The acquisition is part of a deal with Escort Investment Bank Limited. Accordingly, Bahria Town will acquire 71 percent shares of Escort Investment Bank and will become the complete owner of its subsidiary, Escort Capital Limited.
The board of directors of Escort Investment Bank approved the sale of the brokerage house. They inked an agreement with Bahria Town Private Limited in this regard. The transaction of the shares sale-purchase is subject to approval from different regulatory authorities including SECP and PSX.
Escort Capital Limited was established in 2009. Backed by an investment bank, it was registered with Karachi Stock Exchange and Lahore Stock Exchange, which have been merged to form the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
The brokerage house plays a strong supportive role for its parent company. With the acquisition, 71 percent of the investment bank’s total shares, of the investment bank and its brokerage house, Bahria Town will likely have multi-dimensional access in the corporate world.
Escort Investment Bank Limited has been in the red for the past few years with its present losses reaching Rs. 60.178 million for the three quarters that ended in 31 March 2017. The bank has failed to meet the shortfall of its paid-up capital which stands at Rs. 292.5 million against Rs 1 billion as per regulations of Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SCEP) for Non-Banking Financial Companies.
Being one of the biggest real estate companies in Pakistan, Bahria Town Private Limited has a lot of capital and a rich investors’ base. After the acquisition of the investment bank and brokerage house, the real estate conglomerate is likely to turn it into a profitable venture.
