Telecard subsidiary set to buy firm for listing status
KARACHI: Shareholders of Hallmark Company Ltd, a listed entity engaged in the trading of computer and allied IT equipment, has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Telecard Ltd for the sale of 62.8 per cent shareholding.
Telecommunication player Telecard said on Thursday Irtaza Zafar Sheikh and the board of directors of Gazpak Ltd — who collectively own almost 63pc shares in Hallmark Company — will sell their entire shareholding as part of the proposed divestment to Supernet Infrastructure Solutions Ltd.
Telecard owns Supernet Ltd, which is the parent company of Supernet Infrastructure Solutions engaged in the business of solar panels.
Telecard Company Secretary Waseem Ahmad told Dawn the transaction would enable Supernet Infrastructure Solutions, a privately held company, to attain the listing status through a “reverse merger”.
The reverse merger allows a private entity — Super Infrastructure Solutions in this case — to become a publicly traded firm without going through the tedious and costly process of an initial public offering.
Hallmark Company currently runs “limited operations” and even those operations will be carved out of it once the transaction is over, says Mr Ahmad. “We’re only interested in obtaining the listing status of the target company,” he said.
“Of the many unlisted subsidiaries of Supernet Ltd, this is the most promising one. The acquisition of a listed entity will lead to value addition for Supernet Ltd,” he added.
At a price of Rs115 per share, the target company is currently worth Rs57.5 million. It means the expected transaction value should be around Rs36.1m for a 62.8pc shareholding at the going market rate.
Supernet Ltd owns 99.98pc shares in Super Infrastructure Solutions Ltd. The parent company went public last year and raised Rs475m. It sold 18.81pc of the total post-listing shareholding at Rs22.50 per share.
The transaction constituted the first-ever listing of a technology company on the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) counter, which is reserved for riskier entities seeking public funds.
However, Supernet Ltd is currently in the middle of a migration to the PSX’s main board owing to little trading that takes place every day on the GEM counter for myriad reasons.
Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2023