By Amin Ahmed Muhammad Ali
ISLAMABAD: The Board of the Privatisation Com-mission approved the ap–pointment of financial advisers for the divestme-nt of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) on Thursday, marking it as one of the government鈥檚 priority transactions in the current privatisation pipeline.
The decision made during a board meeting led by Muhammad Ali, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Privatisation, represents a significant advancement in the divestment process.
It said the appointment of a top-tier consortium reflects the go–vernment鈥檚 commitment to carrying out the transaction in a professional, tra-nsparent, and timely manner.
Following a competitive and transparent bidding process, a consortium led by Next Capital Ltd was selected as financial adv-iser for the ZTBL transaction. The consortium also includes Ijaz Ahmed & Associates (Legal), Baker Tilly Mehmood Idrees Qamar (Accounting & Tax), Exe-cutives Network Interna-tional (HR), Brid–ge Public Relations (Me-dia), Savills Pakistan Pvt Ltd (Real Estate Val-ua-ti–on), and Prima Global Con–sulting Pvt Ltd (Actuarial).
The winning consortium achieved the highest technical and financial score among six competing bidders, which incl-uded other leading groups headed by Arif Habib Ltd, AF Fergu-son, AKD Securities Ltd, Bri—–dge Factor, and JS Bank.
The board also approved the formation of a Nego-tiation Committee to finalise the Financial Advisory Services Agreement with the selected consortium.
Founded in 1961 as the ADBP, it was renamed and incorporated as Zarai Ta–r-aqiati Bank Ltd in 2002 under the Companies Ord-inance 1984. The bank of–fers agricultural credit and banking services to farmers nationwide and remains Pakistan鈥檚 largest public-sector agri lender.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2025