AKD-led consortium buys majority stake in Pearl Continental Hotels

In a significant development in Pakistan’s hotel sector, a consortium of investoRsled by Aqeel Karim Dedhi – known in Pakistan’s capital markets simply by his initials as AKD – has snapped up a controlling 55.95% stake in Pakistan Services Ltd (PSL), the operator of the Pearl Continental (PC) brand.

The consortium consists of the AKD Group Holding (Pvt) Ltd – the flagship investment vehicle of Aqeel Karim Dhedhi – has acquired 9,089,651 shares, equal to 27.95% of PSL’s equity, at Rs700 per share. The ticket size works out to Rs6.3 billion. Dawood Jan Mohammad, founder of DJM Securities, has purchased just over 28% at the same price, lifting his outlay to roughly Rs6.3 billion as well.

Together, the duo will pay Rs12.7 billion (about $45 million) in cash, valuing PSL at Rs22.7 billion. Incidentally, the purchase price of Rs700 per share is a discount to what the shares had been trading at for much of the past two years. The last time the companies shares were trading at or below Rs700 per share was in 2023.