KASB Investment Banking wins Euromoney award for Pakistan Investment Bank of the Year and FinanceAsia award for Best Pakistan Deal

Karachi, June 2007

KASB is proud to announce that it has been named the Euromoney " Pakistan Investment Bank of the Year" for 2007 and Asiamoney "Pakistan Best Domestic Equity House" for 2007. The awards follows another successful year for KASB that has seen the company continue to achieve strong growth across all main businesses.

Farid Masood, Managing Director, Head of Investment Banking at KASB said: "We are honoured to receive this prestigious euromoney award. Pakistan has seen a significant increase in economic activity in recent years and we have positioned ourselves along with our partners, Merrill Lynch to be at the forefront of this activity. Many hard working and talented people from across the firm have contributed to our success."

KASB's ability to provide clients with access to the international capital markets as well as strategic investors is evident in its involvement in many of Pakistan's largest and most successful transactions. This includes its role as advisors for China Mobile in it acquisition of Paktel; advisors for a ME consortium for its acquisition of KESC; advisors/arrangers for the convertible note for WorldCall and advisors for MCB Bank and UBL for their GDR offerings.

FinanceAsia magazine recently, after the announcement of the UBL GDR offering, said "This deal shows that Merrill Lynch is becoming a force to reckon with in Pakistan, having now arranged two of the three GDRs in this new wave of issuance. And it was involved as an adviser in China Mobile's acquisition of Swedish telecom operator Millicom's assets in Pakistan". Recently, KASB and Merrill Lynch also announced that Global Depository Receipt (GDR) listing of MCB Bank has been named FinanceAsia's "Best Pakistan Deal" for 2006. MCB Bank, the recipient of the Euromoney Award for Excellence and declared 'The Best Bank in Pakistan 2006', is the only bank to have received 6 out of the 7 Euromoney Awards in the last 7 years and three years consecutively.

In October 2006, MCB Bank closed a $150 million GDR listing on the London Stock Exchange. The roadshow for the GDR issue was held in Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, London, Boston, New York and San Francisco. The offer attracted over $700 million of demand from investors worldwide. The overwhelming response from the fund management community to the issue signified investor's confidence in the bank's management and highlighted its impressive performance metrics on a global scale. This historic event marked the first GDR offering for a Pakistani issuer in over 10 years and made MCB the first Pakistani company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

It is notable that during the 12 week period of the transaction the share price appreciated by approximately 50% till the pricing of the issue reflecting the strength of the roadshows and the management of the issue. Merrill Lynch International was the Sole Global Coordinator, Sole Bookrunner and Sole Lead Manager for this issue, with KASB Securities as the Financial Advisor to MCB Bank.

The transaction showed not only the strengths of KASB as the leading Investment Banking institution in Pakistan with a history of performance and expertise in mergers & acquisitions, equity and debt capital market issues, but also the commitment of Merrill Lynch to Pakistan.