'Takeover' looms as two firms acquire 56% stake in PC hotels chain

KARACHI: In a move that appears to be synchronised, two firms have acquired about 56 per cent stake in the company that owns and manages the chain of Pearl Continental Hotels, sparking speculation about a possible takeover, it emerged on Sunday.

According to the information filed with the Pakistan Stock Exchange under the Securities Act 2015, Dawood Jan Muhammad purchased twenty-eight percent shares of Pakistan Services Limited on July 14, 2025. The investor has purchased 9,107,800 shares at the rate of Rs700 per share, which is worth over Rs6.37 billion.

AKD Holding has also submitted information to purchase 27.9 percent of shares of Pakistan Services Limited on July 14. According to the information, it has purchased 9,089,651 shares of Pakistan Services Limited at the rate of Rs700 per share, which is worth over Rs6.3 billion.

PSL’s 18,197,550 shares have been purchased by two different individuals at the rate of Rs700 per share. The total value of the two purchases is over Rs12 billion.

According to experts, if the two different purchases are combined, it amounts to about 56 percent of the company’s shares, which is enough to take over the management of the company’s board.

Topline Securities Chief Executive Mohammed Sohail said that yes, if two parties acquire 55.95 per cent of the shares of Pakistan Services Limited, they can take over the company. He further stated that while the deal could be considered hostile, there is also a possibility that it was carried out with mutual understanding between both parties.

The company had informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange of the postponement of the board meeting on June 30. PSL has nine hotels and one subsidiary in the country. The price of PSL shares was Rs782 at the close of business on July 11 and it increased by 10pc to Rs1,050 at the close of business on July 20.

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