Pakistan's biggest telco Jazz sets eyes on public listing

Pakistan's biggest telecom company Jazz plans to list on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

This was disclosed by Aamir Ibrahim, the CEO of Jazz, in response to a question during a media briefing. While Aamir did not disclose when the company plans to go public, he said that it was definitely on the cards.

He disclosed that the reason for going public was not to raise capital but to help build capital markets of the country.

“We have sources of capital elsewhere,” he said. “The telecom company was considering going public so that the local investors could also benefit from our success.”

Aamir explained that going public was to show greater commitment to the country and to shun the image that foreign companies made money in Pakistan but took it outside of the country. So if the company went public, dividends could be paid to local retail and institutional investors.

Another benefit of going public for Jazz is that it would be able to give employees equity in the company and retain their best talent.

If Jazz follows through with its plan to list the company, it has the potential to become one of the largest IPOs in the country's history, surpassing the likes of Air Link.