According to an August 29 briefing to the Pakistani Senate Standing Committee on Privatisation, the Pakistani government will sell a 75% stake in Pakistan International Airlines. The successful buyer had to invest about 500 million dollars over three years to revitalise the carrier.
Pakistan International Airlines Bidding Process
Usman Akhtar Bajwa, the committee secretary, has said there are no more time extensions to bid for the carrier. This comes as the successful buyer has been announced and preliminary sale documentation will be signed in October. The government is attempting to sell a majority stake in the carrier as well as whole or partial stakes in a raft of other state-owned entities.
Earlier this year, government agencies conducted a pre-qualification process for organizations that expressed interest in buying the carrier. The organizations that passed include Fly Jinnah , AirBlue, Arif Habib Corporation Limited, and three consortia led by YB Holdings Limited, Pak Ethanol, and Blue World City.
Pak Ethanol consortium reportedly includes; AsiaPak Investments Limited, Swiss Aviation Group, Airport Competence, Pearl Asset Management, and Capital A Consultancy. The YB Holdings consortium reportedly includes AirSial, Serene Air, and Liberty Daharki Power Limited.
New PIA owners Responsibilities
While the government has transferred about 2.23 billion dollars of PIA’s liabilities off its balance sheet into a separate company. The buyer while assuming some of PIA’s liabilities, it will only be responsibility for around 789 million dollars of it. The buyer is also required to bring in 287 million dollars in the first twelve months. This 287 million represents over half of the USD500 million required to be invested over the first three years.
The Pakistan International Airlines carrier, flies to 32 destinations in 12 countries with a fleet of 32 aircraft – seventeen A320-200s, three ATR42-500s, six B777-200ERs, two B777-200LRs, and four B777-300ERs. Sixteen of these are out of service for various reasons, including all three B777-200ERs and ten of the seventeen A320s. The new majority owner of PIA is also expected to invest heavily in new aircraft.