ISLAMABAD: Three bids have been received for the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL), the country’s loss-making national carrier and one of the most prominent state-owned entities slated for sale.
The sealed bids were received on Tuesday morning from pre-qualified bidders Lucky Cement, private airline Airblue, and investment firm Arif Habib. Representatives of each group arrived separately to place their sealed envelopes into a transparent box during a public ceremony in Islamabad, which was broadcast live on state television.
Following the submission, the reference price for PIACL will be reviewed and approved by the Privatisation Commission Board and the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation. The bids are scheduled to be opened at a ceremony beginning at 3:30pm, where both the bid values and reference price will be announced, and the process will be concluded in line with the agreed framework.
Adviser to the prime minister on privatisation, Muhammad Ali, will address the media after the bidding concludes. The entire process is being aired live on television and streamed across the government’s official social media platforms, as authorities aim to ensure transparency and avoid a repeat of last year’s failed attempt.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Ali said, “God willing, we will get a good bid, there will be good investment and we will succeed.”
This marks Pakistan’s second effort to privatise the national airline after a televised auction last year collapsed due to a single bid that fell well below the government’s reference price, halting what would have been the first major privatisation in almost two decades.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while chairing a federal cabinet meeting, expressed appreciation for government officials and the Privatisation Commission for their work on the process. He emphasised that the privatisation has been conducted in a fully transparent manner and described it as the country’s largest transaction to date.
“Today, as the bidding starts [..] the bids will come in sealed envelopes, there will be transparent boxes, there will be a live telecast. When the price is determined, the envelopes will be opened. They will compete, and whoever has the highest bid will succeed,“ he said.
“Only God knows how high the bid will go, but the process must come back to the cabinet,” he added.
Unsuccessful bidders barred from management role
Earlier, Ali stated that the two unsuccessful bidders would be barred from any future involvement in the airline’s management under a special condition included in the process. He explained that losing bidders would not be allowed to join the winning group, and only parties not involved in the auction could later become part of the new management.
As a result, only one of the three bidding consortiums will gain management control after acquiring a majority stake. However, Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd, which had earlier withdrawn from the bidding, retains the option to join the successful bidder at a later stage.
Ahead of Tuesday’s auction, reports emerged about a possible behind-the-scenes arrangement involving at least two bidders the Arif Habib and Lucky Cement groups which ultimately did not materialise.
Journalist Kamran Khan, in a tweet, referred to a meeting where a proposal was discussed to divide the controlling stake among three of the four interested parties. According to Khan, the plan failed after one party the Muhammad Ali Tabba-led Lucky Cement group declined to accept it.
Both Tabba and a senior government official familiar with the matter confirmed that such discussions took place but clarified that it was not a government-facilitated meeting and was merely an informal interaction.
Speaking to Dawn, Tabba reaffirmed his confidence in the privatisation process and explained that the proposal was presented to him after a meeting in Islamabad, but he chose not to pursue it further.
