Shanghai Electric Power terminates purchase of stake in KE

Monitoring Desk
KARACHI: Shanghai Electric Power Company has decided to terminate its offer to acquire up to 66.4 per cent of K-Electric Ltd due to changes in Pakistan’s business environment, it emerged on Wednesday.
KE is the only electricity generator, transmitter, and distributor for Karachi and its adjoining areas, and the only listed electricity supplier. It was privatised in 2005. Shanghai Electric Power had agreed to buy a controlling shareholding in KE from Abraaj Group back in 2016 for a sum of $1.77 billion.
The transaction never materialised because the seller failed to obtain the required approvals from different authorities and liquidity constraints as a consequence of mounting circular debt in the country’s power sector. In June 2023, Shanghai Electric reiterated its commitment to the deal.
In a statement issued a day ago, the Chinese company said: “On September 9, 2025, the company convened the fifth meeting of the ninth board of directors and reviewed and approved the proposal to terminate and write off the equity acquisition of KE company in Pakistan, agreeing to terminate this major asset purchase.”
It added that since the planning of the “major asset purchase”, the company had strictly adhered to relevant laws, regulations, and normative documents, actively promoting the various tasks involved in this major asset purchase.
“Given that the counterparty has consistently failed to meet the conditions precedent for closing and the changes in the business environment in Pakistan have rendered this transaction no longer aligned with the company’s international development direction, after careful study and analysis, in order to effectively safeguard the interests of the company and all its shareholders, the company has decided to terminate this major asset purchase.
“As KES energy company has failed to meet the conditions precedent stipulated in Article 4.1 of the Share Purchase Agreement, Shanghai Electric is entitled to terminate the agreement in accordance with Article 4.8 of the Share Purchase Agreement,” the statement read.
The company had withdrawn its offer last year as well.