ISLAMABAD: The federal government will decide on the shares percentage of Pakistan International Airlines Company Ltd (PIACL) after receiving bids from the six shortlisted bidders. These bidders are currently conducting due diligence to assess the airline’s finances.
In April 2024, the Privatization Commission invited from potential buyers Expression of Interest (EOI) for acquisition of 51-100 percent of equity of PIACL along with management control.
In a media briefing here on Wednesday, Minister for Privatisation Aleem Khan said the interest of bidders would be decided how much equity in PIACL core business is to be sold to them and how much share the government would hold.
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Secretary PC Usman Akhtar Bajwa said the buying side due diligence had been started in the last couple of weeks and the business plan of the PIACL was also shared with them which promised huge profitability
Responding to a question regarding a ban on PIA flights, he said the buyers had shown come concerns. To address these concerns, he maintained a meeting had been arranged with the Aviation Division. He further said that foreign aviation authorises had shown some reservation on aviation regulations.
Roosevelt Hotel (New York), the secretary said three options had been under consideration of federal cabinet. First, business should be runin joint venture (JV), lease out the hotel or sale out. The EoI would be thereafter invited by end of July.
He further said that the commission was negotiating with a single-source/negotiated transaction for the privatisation of House Building Finance Company Ltd (HBFC). The sole pre-qualified investor stands to be Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company Ltd (PMRCL).
The bidding process would be completed by end of the current month, he added. Privatisation of First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) would be sell to UAE government under government-to-government mode.
He said Pakistan was asking the UAE government to nominate its entity to negotiate with Pakistani side. He further said that consultation with Power Division was continuing on the privatisation of power generation/distribution companies. World Bank was providing technical assistance to the Power Division.
Privatisation Minister Aleem Khan also clarified that the Finance Division, not his commission, set the current fiscal year’s Rs30 billion privatisation revenue target.
Secretary Privatization Division Jawad Paul said that the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) on May 10, 2024, approved in principle 24 entities for privatisation, while 41 entities have been referred to the Cabinet Committee on State Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) for their categorization as per SOE Act/Policy. “More entities would be incorporated in the active list of privatisation in line with the recommendations of CCoSOEs),” he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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