What’s in a name? Everything, apparently
Byco has gotten it bad. Is a name change really as important as they think?
B
yco just can’t catch a break. As this magazine has previously noted, every possible accusation has been lobbed at the company. The refinery has been accused of defrauding state-owned oil companies, violating international sanctions, and creating an artificial shortage in the Pakistani oil market – among other things. And it doesn’t matter what the company’s lawyers and PR team come up with, the stink doesn’t seem to be leaving Byco. Nevermind that (as Profit has previously mentioned) data presented in the government’s own inquiries found that Byco’s storage capacity helped calm the oil crisis, rather than aggravate it. The name ‘Byco’ has become a byword for drama, and supposed corruption. So,what route did the company decide to take? What solution did it come up with? Did it decide to fix the books, find new
PETROLEUM
evidence to support its case, start a robust PR campaign, or do all three? Nope. It decided to disappear. On June 14, the company notified the Pakistan Stock Exchange that it had decided to rename itself. “The Board of Directors of Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (the “Company”) has considered and approved a change in Company’s name from’ Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited’ to ‘Cnergyico Pk Limited’, the notice read. This decision has been previously approved in the extraordinary general meeting held on April 26, earlier this year. The name change faced some derision on social media. Some twitter users asked how to pronounce the weird sounding name. Others suggested that the name change was simply a way for Byco to wash its hands of the old name, and thereby try to erase the alleged scams from people’s memory. Certainly the CEO of the company, Amir Abbassciy,
thought this might work. In a press statement, he attempted to connect the name to the word ‘synergy’. The term is a classic example of corporate speak. It actually refers to the phenomenon that the combined power of a group working together is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately. And so, as Abbassciy says, “The oil and gas industry is currently undergoing a metamorphosis, exploring alternate energy sources, responding to climate change, and evolving new business models. We are intensifying our investment to further modernize our business and to cater to tomorrow’s petrochemicals and energy requirements of our nation. To commemorate this investment, we are rebranding ourselves as Cnergyico Pk Limited to reflect our new positioning in the industry. We aim to create synergy in the energy vertical, leveraging our strengths and
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