8 consortia vie for majority shareholding in PIA

ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan has received Statements of Qualifications (SoQs) from eight consortia, involving both local and international partners, vying for a majority shareholding in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national flag carrier.

The entities submitting SoQs include Fly Jinnah, Air Blue Limited, Arif Habib Corporation Limited, Sardar Ashraf D Baluch – SHANXI CIG Co Ltd (China), Gerry’s International (Private) Limited, consortium lead by Y B Holdings (Private) Limited, consortium lead by Pak Ethanol, and another consortium lead by Blue World City. However, the Privatisation Commission has not disclosed the names of the underlying companies forming these consortia.

The commission is set to initiate the pre-qualification process, following the criteria outlined in the Request for Statements of Qualifications (RSOQs), as per the PC Ordinance 2000 and associated regulations. Once potential investors or bidders qualify, they would proceed to subsequent stages in the bidding process.

Pre-qualified potential investors or bidders would conduct thorough investigations into PIA’s operations, finances, and other relevant aspects. Subsequently, qualified parties would receive official documents and instructions necessary for participating in the bidding process.

A pre-bid conference would be convened for potential bidders to address any queries or concerns before submitting their bids. The Privatisation Commission Board and the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) would then approve the valuation (reference price) for the sale of the majority stake in the PIA, followed by the actual bidding process.

Upon conclusion of the bidding process, the PC Board and CCoP would review and endorse the results. Subsequently, the successful bidder would be issued a Letter of Intent, signaling the government’s intent to proceed with the sale. This would be followed by the execution of the final sale agreement between the government and the successful bidder. Upon completion of the sale agreement, the government would receive the proceeds from the sale of the majority stakes in the PIA.