Another OGDC GDR likely

The government is considering issuing another Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) global depository receipt (GDR) in 2007, and its basic idea has already been conveyed to the management. Sources said the government economic team conveyed the idea to the management of another OGDC GDR, sometime back.
Since it was an initial idea which would mature once the Privatisation Commission would be asked to work out its modalities such as size timing and the lead manager. "We have been hinted at the second GDR, but it was not in the formal shape," said an official of the company when contacted for comments.
It may be an official position of the management, but the board may not buy the government idea of keep on floating OGDC's GDRs and make money to plug the trade gap. Since the gap in imports and exports is growing each year the government is forced to opt for some untraditional sources such as GDRs and bonds issues to keep it within some reasonable limit.
The Privatisation Commission had floated the first OGDC GDR in 2006, and raised 813 million against the offer. It was the single largest offer made by the government for any public sector organisation. The basic theme behind the first offer was to confirm the value of OGDC shares in the international market and then use it as a benchmark to fix its floor price for strategic sale. It was a reasonable logic of making OGDC offer and it worked to the government expectations.
But even then the management faced tough resistance from the board, which was not ready to accept the OGDC shares offering as GDR. The board made it clear to the management at an initial stage that since the government was sole beneficiary of the GDR offer, it should also take the responsibility when and wherever any legal complications figures. The resistance that the management faced from the board for getting nod for the first GDR could be judged that it met daily for full one week from morning to evening and granted approval to the offer only when the government issued a sovereign grantee, accepting the responsibility of any legal complication of the offer.