News
Bank Makramah Completes Rs12 Billion Sale of Cullinan Tower in Karachi
By Mariam Khan
Real Estate Analyst
4 min read
Bank Makramah Limited has completed the Rs12 billion sale of Cullinan Tower, formerly known as Summit Tower, located at Plot No. G-2, Block 2, Scheme 5, Clifton, Karachi, disclosing the completion to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on 2 September 2026 and confirming receipt of the full sale consideration. The disclosure was made under Section 96 of the Securities Act, 2015 and Clause 5.6.1(a) of the PSX Rule Book.
The Full Timeline Behind This Transaction
This completion is the final step in a process that began well over a year earlier. Bank Makramah's Board of Directors first approved a confirmed offer of Rs12 billion from Sumya Builders and Developers for Cullinan Tower, alongside a separate Rs5 billion sponsor capital injection agreement, in a filing made in mid 2025. A formal Sale Purchase Agreement was then executed roughly one month later, with the bank confirming receipt of a down payment against the transaction at that stage. This latest disclosure confirms that the full Rs12 billion consideration has now actually been received, marking the transaction's genuine completion rather than merely its contractual agreement.
Why This Sale Matters for the Bank Itself
Bank Makramah's own filed financial statements provide important context for why a transaction of this scale carries real significance for the institution. The bank has been operating with substantial accumulated losses and negative equity in recent reporting periods, and this asset sale forms part of a broader capital strengthening and balance sheet optimisation strategy that has also included a separate Rs5 billion sponsor deposit and an earlier Rs10 billion capital injection from its majority shareholder. Bank Makramah, formerly known as Summit Bank and, before that, Arif Habib Bank, tracing its origins back to the Pakistani operations of Rupali Bank, has undergone a documented multi year turnaround under the sponsorship of its majority owner, and this completed property sale represents a concrete, cash realised component of that broader recovery.
Why the Buyer and Location Matter
Sumya Builders and Developers, the purchasing entity, is acquiring a property in Clifton, one of Karachi's most established and highest value commercial and residential districts. A confirmed, fully paid Rs12 billion transaction for a single commercial tower in this specific location represents a genuinely large value data point for institutional grade commercial real estate in Karachi's prime districts.
What This Signals About Institutional Demand for Prime Karachi Commercial Property
A transaction of this scale, moving from board approval through to full, confirmed payment over roughly 14 months, demonstrates that genuine institutional appetite exists for large, single asset commercial property acquisitions in Clifton specifically, even during a period when Pakistan's broader real estate and financial sectors have faced sustained macroeconomic pressure. The fact that the buyer followed through with full payment, after an initial agreement and down payment stage, is itself a meaningful confirmation that large scale commercial property transactions of this kind can be reliably completed in Karachi's prime commercial corridor, rather than stalling at the agreement stage as sometimes occurs with large value property deals.
What Remains Unconfirmed
No information has been disclosed regarding Sumya Builders and Developers' specific plans for the property going forward, whether the tower will continue operating in its current form, undergo redevelopment, or be repurposed entirely. This detail would matter directly for understanding the transaction's full implications for the immediate Clifton commercial property market.
What This Means for Karachi's Commercial Property Market
For investors, developers, and institutions evaluating prime commercial property in Clifton and comparable high value Karachi districts, this completed transaction offers a genuine, fully confirmed valuation benchmark for institutional grade commercial towers in the area. The scale of the deal, and its successful completion from agreement through to full payment, suggests continued institutional confidence in Karachi's prime commercial real estate as an asset class, even as broader economic conditions have created a more cautious environment for many other categories of property investment nationally.