KARACHI: In an “updated disclosure” following the Aug 21 order by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, K-Electric Ltd said on Thursday there’s been no change in the status of a case currently in the Sindh High Court (SHC) against the Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund (IGCF) SPV-21 Ltd.

The latest regulatory filing by the power utility follows the Cayman Islands court order telling Al Jomaih Power Ltd and Denham Investments Ltd — which control 46.2 per cent shareholding in KES Power that, in turn, owns majority shares in K-Electric — to withdraw their case in the SHC against IGCF SPV-21.

The proceedings in the SHC have prevented IGCF SPV-21 — which owns 53.8pc shareholding in KES Power — from appointing its nominated directors to the board of K-Electric.

According to K-Electric, the Cayman Islands court order holds that any dispute between IGCF SPV-21 and the other shareholders should be resolved by a court in either the Cayman Islands or England rather than the SHC. “However, the Grand Court has stayed its order pending a further hearing, which [K-Electric] has been informed, is listed for Oct 10, 2023,” it said.

The Cayman Islands court proceedings are “only concerned with the jurisdiction” in which the underlying dispute should be heard, and did not address the merits of the claims between the two groups of shareholders, K-Electric said.

The tussle between the two groups of KES Power’s shareholders began in October 2022 when Sage Venture Group Ltd — a British Virgin Islands–registered special-purpose company of AsiaPak Investments Ltd — became “general partner” of IGCF. It followed a court-sanctioned sale of certain assets of Abraaj Investment Management, which was undergoing official liquidation internationally at the time.

The new general partner as well as its parent company are ultimately owned by Shaheryar Chishty, a Pakistani citizen who previously worked in international banking and now owns multiple companies in the country’s power sector.

IGCF SPV-21 is seeking the winding up of the Cayman Islands–based KES Power in order to establish a direct shareholding in Karachi’s only power utility.

It claims that the other group of investors has violated the shareholders’ agreement by preventing it from appointing members to K-Electric’s board of directors.

In a message shared with Dawn by K-Electric Director Shan Ashary, the local representative of both Al Jomaih Power Ltd and Denham Investments Ltd stated that IGCF SPV-21 can’t claim to be the “majority owner” of the power entity unless it establishes its credentials before the government of Pakistan and furnishes its source of funds.“The Cayman Islands court case doesn’t prove who the majority owner is. It’s just a jurisdiction case. It doesn’t establish any proof of ownership,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023