Islamabad: In a major corporate shift, the Board of Directors of Shell Pakistan Limited (SHEL) has approved the renaming of the company to Wafi Energy Pakistan Limited. This decision comes in the wake of Wafi Energy Holding Limited’s acquisition of an additional 22,165,837 ordinary shares in SHEL, representing approximately 10.36% of the company’s total issued capital.
According to a notification issued to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, the latest acquisition follows a previous purchase by Wafi in July, where it acquired 165,700,304 shares, equivalent to 77.42% of SHEL shares. With this latest transaction, Wafi now owns a total of 187,866,141 common shares, equivalent to approximately 87.78% of SHEL’s total issued capital.
The notice also revealed that Shell’s former parent company, Shell Petroleum Limited, has divested its entire stake in SHEL. In light of these changes, three members of the Board of Directors resigned – Zain K. Haq, Rafi Bashir, and Dr. Muhammad Mahmood Al Balushi – as of October 31, 2024.
To fill the vacant positions, Ghassan Al Amoudi, Javed Akhtar and Kai-Uwe Wetterstein have been appointed as directors. Ghassan Al-Amoudi will assume the position of new president.
The notice also stated that the name change from **Shell Pakistan Limited** to **Wafi Energy Pakistan Limited** will also include a new ticker symbol on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, changing from **SHEL** to **WEP* *, pending Regulatory approvals and legal procedures.
Last June, the Pakistani Shell Company announced the intention of its parent company to sell its stake, explaining that this transformation would not affect the company’s ongoing operations.