Fauji Foundation buys 19.7% stake in Pearl-Continental owner for Rs6.55bn
The foundation paid Rs1,022.42 a share for 6,406,797 voting shares on November 2, about 44 percent more than Thatta Cement paid for its stake a year earlier.
Fauji Foundation has acquired a 19.70 percent voting stake in Pakistan Services Limited, the listed company that owns and runs the Pearl-Continental hotel chain, for about Rs6.55 billion ($23.7 million).
Pakistan Services told the Pakistan Stock Exchange that the foundation bought 6,406,797 voting shares on November 2, 2026 at Rs1,022.42 a share. The purchase takes Fauji Foundation's total holding in the company to 19.70 percent of its voting shares.
The company said it received a letter dated November 2 from Fauji Foundation disclosing the acquisition under Section 110 of the Securities Act, 2015, read with Regulation 4(2) of the Listed Companies (Substantial Acquisition of Voting Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2017. ProPakistani reported that the disclosure was also filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and with Pakistan Services itself.
Business Recorder described Fauji Foundation as one of Pakistan's largest conglomerates. ProPakistani described it as a charitable trust set up to support former servicemen and their families.
The Rs1,022.42 a share price is about 44 percent above the Rs710 a share Thatta Cement paid for a 28 percent stake, according to ProPakistani, which dated that purchase to October 2025. AKD Group Holdings paid Rs700 a share for 27.95 percent in July 2025.
Pakistan Services was incorporated in 1958. It owns and manages the Pearl-Continental chain, franchises the brand, and runs the Hotel One budget brand and a smaller hotel property in Lahore.
Its share register has changed hands repeatedly. In July 2025 AKD Group Holdings (Private) Limited acquired 27.95 percent for more than Rs6.36 billion, and Dawood Jan Mohammad acquired 28 percent of the voting shares at Rs700 a share on the same day. Thatta Cement Company Limited then announced a 28 percent stake for Rs6.45 billion at Rs710 a share.
ProPakistani reported that the Hashwani Group, which acquired Pakistan Services in 1985, challenged those transactions, and that the legal proceedings cover control of about 56 percent of the company's voting shares. Neither the exchange notice as reported by Business Recorder nor its account named the Hashwani Group.
In September 2026 Thatta Cement said it had reached an in-principle understanding on a proposed restructuring of Pakistan Services to settle the matter pending before the Islamabad High Court. ProPakistani reported that accounts at the time suggested an out-of-court settlement dividing five PC hotels between Thatta Cement and Fauji Foundation, and that Pakistan Services said it had no formal knowledge of the reported plan.
How the reports differ
Business Recorder led with the disclosure mechanics and placed the deal alongside the earlier purchases, including Dawood Jan Mohammad's 28 percent at Rs700 a share, but gave no date for Thatta Cement's Rs6.45 billion purchase. ProPakistani framed the deal as Fauji Foundation entering the hospitality business, dated Thatta Cement's 28 percent stake to October 2025 and calculated the 44 percent premium on its Rs710 a share price. ProPakistani alone named the Hashwani Group as the challenger of the 2025 transactions, reported that about 56 percent of the voting shares are in dispute, and carried the reported out-of-court plan to split five PC hotels between Thatta Cement and Fauji Foundation, which Pakistan Services said it had no formal knowledge of.
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