Karachi Port Trust, in order to maintain its edge over Port Qasim as the primary Port of Pakistan, sought proposals from private sector investors to develop the second modern, fully equipped international standard container terminal at East Wharf, Karachi Port.

Against competitive bidding, Premier Mercantile Services (Pvt.) Ltd. ("PMS"), a Marine Group Company, was awarded a 21-year Concession to build and operate a dedicated container terminal at Berths 6-9, Karachi Port, on a BOT basis in April 2002. Following extensive negotiations, an Implementation Agreement was entered into with the Trustees of the Karachi Port Trust, which inter alia detailed the commercial, financial and technical terms of the Concession.