Turkish investor renews bid to buy power producer

The investment bank managing the attempt by a Turkish investor to buy more than 51 per cent shares and control of Tri-Star Power Ltd, a publicly listed electricity producer, said on Thursday it’s extending the deadline for making a public announcement of offer (PAO) by three months. Alpha Beta Core Solutions Ltd said the due diligence process by the potential acquirer was still in process even though the initial period of 180 days for making the PAO ended on Sept 9. Tri-Star Power generates and distributes electricity on a rental basis to customers belonging to the same industrial group through a 10-megawatt plant installed on the premises of Image Pakistan in SITE, Karachi. The current management has mounted a legal battle to prevent the takeover by Aykut Çalikuu — a high-net-worth individual from Turkey with core expertise in e-commerce and the sale of locally sourced products in the Gulf — on the grounds that he was acting “in concert with others” and was “illegally accumulating” shareholding while indulging in share price manipulation.