Air Link announces wholly-owned subsidiary for mobile device manufacturing

Newly-listed smartphone assembler and distributor Air Link Communication Limited announced that it will incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary 'Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited that would manufacture mobile devices of ‘selected brands.’

Air Link Communication Limited, in its filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, informed that its "board of directors has decided to incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air Link Communication Limited in the name and style, 'Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited".

The company added that it would be making an investment of Rs500 million at Rs10 per share for the purpose.

“The primary objective of this wholly-owned subsidiary would be to take on additional mobile device manufacturing of certain selected brand(s),” read the statement.

“The authorized share capital of the company be and is hereby increased from Rs4,000,000,000 divided into 400,000,000 shares of Rs10 each to Rs6,000,000,000 divided into 600,000,000 shares of Rs10 each ranking pari passu in every respect with the existing ordinary shares of the Company,” it added.

Back in August, Air Link launched its Initial Public Offer (IPO) that was oversubscribed by 1.6 times.

Book-building resulted in a strike price of Rs71.5 at the end of the two-day process.

Air Link IPO: Book-building results in strike price of Rs71.5, offer oversubscribed 1.64 times

The company is one of the largest mobile phone distributors of Pakistan with a market share of around 20% within imported mobile phones, said Ismail Iqbal Securities at the time of the IPO.

The company also started to manufacture mobile phones locally in Pakistan since April with a monthly capacity of 400,000 units per month, which is expected to reach up to 550,000 units per month by FY23.

Pakistan’s smartphone market has witnessed a surge of international players in recent months, as the country’s young population has become an attractive market for mobile phone manufacturers.

Pakistan becomes exporter of 4G smartphones: Dawood

Recently, Chinese company vivo opened its new smartphone manufacturing facility in Pakistan, with fellow competitors such as Xiaomi and Realme already in line to open up their local manufacturing sites within the next few months.

Pakistan’s local mobile phone production surpasses imports: PTA

Lucky Motor Corporation (LMC), a subsidiary of Lucky Cement Limited, also entered into an agreement with Samsung Gulf Electronics Co., FZE (Samsung) for the production of Samsung-branded mobile devices in Pakistan.