Fast Cables Joins AKD-Led Consortium to Overtake GEPCO

LAHORE: Fast Cables Limited has entered Pakistan’s high-stakes power privatisation race, joining an unusual industrial and financial alliance that wants control of Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO), one of the country’s strongest-performing electricity distributors.

The cable manufacturer’s board approved its participation in a four-member consortium comprising Fast Cables, AKD Securities Limited, AJCL (Private) Limited and Mughal Iron & Steel Industries Limited, according to a regulatory disclosure dated August 24.

The partners have appointed AKD Securities as the consortium leader and authorised the brokerage house to manage all business during the privatisation process. The alliance combines capital-market expertise, electrical manufacturing, industrial production and technical project services under one bid.

Fast Cables Targets a Bigger Prize

Fast Cables manufactures electrical wires, cables, conductors and lighting products, placing the company close to the physical infrastructure that powers distribution networks. Mughal Steel brings heavy industrial capacity, while AJCL operates across trading, distribution, technical services and project management.

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That mix gives the consortium an obvious commercial logic. However, the group must prove that it can operate a complex public utility, improve customer service and manage thousands of employees. Manufacturing cables and running an electricity network involve very different operational challenges.

The consortium has obtained the Request for Statement of Qualification from the Privatisation Commission. Fast Cables stressed that it has not accepted any binding financial obligation. The commission must first assess the group against its prequalification criteria, while the transaction will also require corporate and regulatory approvals.

The government plans to sell between 51% and 100% of GEPCO along with management control. The opportunity has attracted 11 prospective investors, including seven Pakistani groups and four foreign contenders from Türkiye and Saudi Arabia. Major names in the race include Engro Energy, Hub Power Holdings, Lucky Cement, K-Electric and Sapphire Fibres.

Why Investors Want GEPCO

GEPCO offers something many state-owned power companies cannot: relatively healthy operating numbers. The utility cut line losses to 9.80% during fiscal year 2025-26 from 10.43% a year earlier. It also achieved a recovery rate above 100%, contributed nothing to circular debt and generated Rs5.2 billion in savings through stronger billing, anti-theft action and network improvements.

Those numbers make GEPCO easier to sell, but they also create a political contradiction. Pakistan has placed its more efficient distributors at the front of the privatisation queue while heavily loss-making companies continue draining public finances. Investors naturally want the cleanest assets; taxpayers, however, still carry the weakest ones.

GEPCO forms part of the government’s first privatisation batch alongside Faisalabad Electric Supply Company and Islamabad Electric Supply Company. The authorities want private owners to modernise networks, reduce losses and improve service across the distribution sector.

Fast Cables has only secured a place at the starting line. Prequalification, due diligence, valuation and competitive bidding still stand between the consortium and GEPCO’s control room. Yet the company’s entry signals a larger ambition: it no longer wants merely to supply Pakistan’s power infrastructure. It now wants a seat at the table that runs it.