IRAN POLICE FORCE, LIKE IRGC, ALSO PLAYING PRIVATIZATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000041 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/22 TAGS: PGOV IR ECON SUBJECT: IRAN POLICE FORCE, LIKE IRGC, ALSO PLAYING PRIVATIZATION GAME CLASSIFIED BY: Vinay Chawla, Economic Officer, DOS, IRPO; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: According to Iranian press the 'Naji Gharb' Company under the Mehregan Investment Company,' itself affiliated with the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Cooperative, bought 49 percent of the shares of the 'Iran Offshore Engineering and Construction Company' for USD 140 million in a tender concluded on February 17. For the relatively new (five-year old) LEF Cooperative, this purchase is its largest and its first in the energy sector. IRPO contacts believe the transaction is part of a broader regime effort to accelerate the transfer of state-owned organizations to various semi-state organizations under the guise of privatization. This specific sale demonstrates that the increased impetus to 'privatization' is extending the circle of patronage beyond the IRGC, to include (inter alia) the LEF. However, given that the recent Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) sale to an IRGC-affiliated consortium in September 2009 is still not finalized due to government concerns, it is by not yet certain that this deal will go through. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) According to February 20 Iranian press the 'Naji Gharb' Company under the Mehregan Investment Company,' itself affiliated with the Law Enforcement Forces Cooperative ('Bonyad-e Ta'avon-e NAJA'),bought 49 percent of the shares of the 'Iran Offshore Engineering and Construction Company' (IOEC) for USD 140 million in a tender concluded on February 17. For the relatively new (five-year old) LEF-affiliated cooperative, this purchase is its largest and its first in the energy-sector. THE DEAL ¶3. (U) Iranian press reported February 20 that the 'Naji Gharb' Company (NGC) submitted the winning bid for 49 percent of the 'Iran Offshore Engineering and Construction Company' for a price of 140 Billion IR Toman (approximately USD 140 million). According to the Privatization Organization, 4,243,000 shares were on offer and the minimum bid price was set at 30,200 IR Toman/share (USD 30). NGC submitted a bid of 33,000 IR Toman/share (USD 33). The only other company reported to submit a bid during the 30-day tender was the NIOC Pension Fund, who also owns the remaining 51 percent of IOEC. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Pension Fund's bid of 32,000 IR Toman/share (USD 32) represented a USD 136 million offer price, USD 4 million less than what NGC bid. Under the sale terms, NGC will pay 20 percent of the sale price now and the remaining amount in installments over three years. Prior to the privatization, the 49 percent share of the IOEC was held by the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO). (NOTE: IDRO was established in 1967 to develop industry and to accelerate the industrialization process of the country. In recent years, many of IDRO's assets have been privatized. END NOTE.) WHAT WAS BOUGHT ¶4. (U) According to its website, IOEC was established in 1993 as Iran's first Offshore General Contractor. Describing itself as 'a major energy player,' IOEC designs, supplies, constructs and installs sub-sea pipelines and fixed-process platforms. According to its website, it operates one of the Middle East's largest offshore fleet of specialized sub-sea pipe-laying vessels. According to Iranian press IOEC has a net worth of 300 billion IR Toman (USD 300 million) with assets worth 1 trillion,600 billion IR Toman (USD 1.6 billion),debts of 1 trillion, 300 billion IR Tomans (USD 1.3 billion). THE BUYER ¶5. (C) NGC is a subsidiary of the the Mehregan Investment Company ('Sherkat-e Sarmayegozari-ye Mehregan') which is affiliated with the LEF Cooperative, itself established approximately five years ago. According to a IRPO contact who as a Western diplomat focused DUBAI 00000041 002 OF 002 on economic issues during his recent Tehran posting, the Mehregan Investment Company "has been involved since in activities to increase its capital and assets in order to benefit the welfare of the NAJA employees," specifically through acquiring shares of various companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange. ¶6. (C) According to its website the LEF cooperative has 17 subsidiaries active in different economic fields - the most well known is the Qavamin Economic and Financial Institution. The cooperative most recently purchased the Iran Helicopter Company. Iranian economic press described this IOEC purchase as "a turning point in the entrance of the LEF into economic activities." The former Western diplomat concurred given the size of the transaction, adding the acquisition "is in line with their activities so far. It seems that they simply want to be bigger and stronger." ¶7. (C) Much of the Iranian press described the sale as the LEF having bought a 'former Rafsanjani company.' Mehdi Hashemi, one of the sons of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, was one of this company's founders and was also once Managing Director and head of the board of this company (until approximately 1998). The current managing director is Masud Soltanpur, who according to Iranian press is a prominent member of the hard-line conservative "Ansar-e Hezbollah" Iranian political faction. However, despite the Iranian headlines, the privatization should not be equated with a "Rafsanjani loss" as (to quote our diplomatic contact),"the company had been taken away from Rafsanjani family a while ago." ¶8. (C) COMMENT: As our IRPO diplomatic contact pointed out, this transaction is part of a broader regime effort to accelerate the transfer of state-owned organization to various semi-state organizations under the guise of privatization. This specific sale demonstrates that the circle of patronage goes beyond the IRGC to include the LEF. The IRGC and its subordinate companies have been a significant economic presence in the last decade, dominating the country's privatization efforts and edging out bonyads prominent in the 1990s. As such, the LEF Cooperative purchase of one of the largest and most active companies involved in building and equipping marine oil platforms represents a new recipient for the regime's 'privatization' hand-outs. However, TCI's privatization to an IRGC-affiliated company is still being studied by the 'Competition Council,' and it is unclear whether the LEF Cooperative will have the requisite cash (and political backing) to see this deal through to the end. END COMMENT. EYRE