KARACHI: The board of directors of Summit Bank has agreed to sell at least 51 per cent controlling interest to a UAE-based investor at Rs2.51 per share, a regulatory filing said on Monday.

The smallest listed bank in terms of total assets will let Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah, who currently owns 0.51pc shares in the bank, subscribe to new ordinary shares by way of fresh equity injection.

Post-subscription, the acquirer will purchase existing shares from minority shareholders through a public tender offer to bring its shareholding to at least 51pc and gain management control.

According to JS Global Head of Research Amreen Soorani, the final size of the transaction cannot be ascertained at the current stage of the transaction.

The value of Summit Bank on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is approximately Rs7.75 billion. Its share price increased 13pc to Rs2.94 on Monday. It’s gone up almost 22pc in the last week alone.

The bank has not issued financial results since the quarter ending on Dec 31, 2018. The bank posted an annual net loss of Rs8.7bn in 2018, which followed net losses of Rs1.9bn and Rs2.1bn in the preceding two years.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2021