Profit by Pakistan Today reported on 18 September 2026 that a National Assembly committee on privatisation was told the approved structure for the first DISCO sales would divest between 51 and 100 per cent of each company together with management control. Alvarez & Marsal had completed due diligence, and the Privatisation Commission and the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation had approved the restructuring plans.
The same terms appear in the commission's May invitation for expressions of interest, so the committee briefing confirmed a design rather than changing one. It matters anyway. A minority stake would have raised cash and left the same management in charge of feeders, billing and theft control. Control is the part of the transaction that can change how these companies operate.
The bidder field
The Press Information Department published the GEPCO list when that window closed on 21 August: eleven expressions of interest, three from Turkish energy companies, one from Saudi Arabia and seven from Pakistani groups, including Engro Energy, a Hub Power and Lucky Cement consortium, and K-Electric. By our count seven of eleven, or 64 per cent, are domestic. For FESCO, the commission board pre-qualified 10 of 12 interested parties in late August. IESCO's deadline was extended to 21 September.
A field that is mostly Pakistani conglomerates has advantages. These groups understand the payment culture and the politics of disconnection. The concern is that several of them are large industrial electricity consumers or own generation that sells to the same system. A buyer that owns plants selling to CPPA-G and also controls a DISCO has interests that NEPRA will need to police, in procurement, in dispatch disputes and in how industrial customers in its own territory are treated.
K-Electric's interest is the most significant. It is the only bidder that already runs a privately owned, vertically integrated Pakistani utility. Its presence makes the field more credible on operations and more complicated on regulation.
Our view
Parliament's useful role now is on valuation, reserve prices and conflict-of-interest rules for bidders who are also generators or bulk consumers. The decision to sell with control has been made and is the right one. What remains open is whether NEPRA has licence conditions ready on investment, loss reduction and service standards before the first share transfer. Without them, a new owner can cut costs by cutting maintenance, and the first sign will be a bad winter for FESCO consumers.