The Privatisation Commission Board approved on Friday the inclusion of AKD Group Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd in the Arif Habib Corporation Limited (AHCL)-led consortium – one of the four pre-qualified parties participating in the privatisation process of the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).
“This inclusion is permissible under the conditions stipulated in the Statement of Qualifications (SOQs),” the Privatisation Commission (PC) said in a statement released after the board’s 242nd meeting held under the chairmanship of Muhammad Ali, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Privatisation.
During the meeting, the board “made significant decisions regarding the ongoing privatisation initiatives of the House Building Finance Company Limited (HBFCL), Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited, and the management of three international airports located in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi”, the statement said.
As per the details, the board recommended a reference price for the privatisation of HBFCL, along with the terms of the Sale Purchase Agreement, for submission to the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP).
“The company is being privatised through a negotiated sale to the Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company Limited (PMRCL), which has been pre-qualified as a bidder. The CCoP and the Federal Cabinet had previously approved proceeding with a negotiated sale to a single pre-qualified bidder in July 2023. PMRCL has submitted its bid, which will be opened after the approval of the reference price by the CCoP and its ratification by the Cabinet.”
Moreover, the board recommended to the CCoP the inclusion of the management of three international airports – Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi – in the ongoing privatisation programme.
“Under this initiative, airport management will be offered on a long-term concession basis.”
In June this year, Fauji Fertilizer, Air Blue, and 3 consortiums submitted the SOQs, showing their interest in acquiring a stake in the national carrier.
The PC received Expressions of Interest (EOI) from eight interested parties and five of them submitted SOQs by the deadline.
The five interested parties included:
- Consortium comprising Lucky Cement Limited, Hub Power Holdings Limited, Kohat Cement Company Limited and Metro Ventures (Private) Limited
- Consortium comprising of Arif Habib Corporation Limited, Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited, City Schools (Private) Limited and Lake City Holdings (Private) Limited
- Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited
- Air Blue
- Consortium comprising Augment Securities & Investments (Private) Limited and Serene Air (Private) Limited, Bahria Foundation, Mega C&S Holding, Equitas Capital LLC
The government restarted the PIA sale process with fresh EOI call in April this year, marking a renewed effort to offload its stake in the national carrier. It first set June 3 as deadline for EOI submission, but later extended it till June 19, with all terms and conditions remaining the same.
It has been seeking to sell a 51-100% stake in the debt-ridden carrier, to raise funds and reform cash-draining state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund programme (IMF).
The government failed in the first attempt to privatise the PIA last year after receiving a single offer, well below the asking price of more than $300 million.
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