According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, 10 Pakistani companies, including three domestic airlines, have expressed interest in purchasing a majority stake in PIA Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International).
Frei Jinnah, Airsial, Airblue, Arif Habib Group, Shujaat Azeem Group consortium, Taba, Tariq Group, Omni Group, Pioneer Cement and Sehgal Group are all reportedly 4 The company said it had responded to the Pakistan Privatization Commission’s request for an expression of interest (EOI) on April 2. Concerning the acquisition of 51-100% of PIA’s share capital and business management.
Since this report, a consortium called Uprise Group is also believed to have submitted an EOI. Uprise Africa, which failed to take over South African Express, is headed by Tabassum “Tabz” Pardeshi (née Kadir), who founded the defunct South African airline Skywise and previously worked in customer services at PIA. He was the general manager, but resigned due to concerns about the airline’s management. management. Submitting an EOI does not obligate a party to participate in any future bidding process. The Privatization Commission, an agency of the Ministry of Finance, uses the EOI process to gauge interest in his PIA and pre-qualify potential bidders.
Foreign companies have not confirmed their participation in the EOI process. However, shortly after its publication, it was reported that the contracting parties of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Malaysia, and Turkiye had all expressed some level of interest in the PIA.
After a 15-day extension, the privatization commission’s EOI deadline is now May 17. The government hopes to complete the privatization of PIA by mid-2024.
