SECP bars K-Electric from changing board composition.

KARACHI -- K-Electric Ltd said on Friday the apex regulator of the corporate sector has directed it not to change the composition of its board of directors 'till further orders'.

K-Electric's holding company is Cayman Islands-registered KES Power Ltd, with a shareholding of 66.4 per cent. The government of Pakistan controls 24.36pc shareholding in K-Electric while the rest is owned by institutional investors and the general public.

The latest directive by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) follows the news that a British Virgin Islands-registered special purpose entity by the name of Sage Venture Group Ltd acquired a large part of the controlling stake in K-Electric last month.

The doomed private equity fund Abraaj Capital held a majority stake in KES Power Ltd until its chief, Arif Naqvi, was arrested in 2019 for misappropriating investors' funds.

K-Electric Ltd announced through a densely worded filing on Oct 20 that 'changes have been consummated' involving IGCF General Partner Ltd (IGCF GP), a fund manager, and the Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund L.P. (Fund), which owns the fund's assets. Sage Venture Group acquired controlling interests in IGCF GP and a certain limited partnership interests in the fund.

Consequently, KES Power-nominated directors Boudewijn Clemens Wentink, Khaqan Saadullah Khan and Saadia Khurram resigned from the board of K-Electric. That prompted the SECP to seek detailed information from K-Electric about the changes in its ownership structure and whether the company has complied with takeover regulations.

According to the SECP, the latest information about the ownership...