Pakistan Airline Sold—This news has emerged as the biggest picture of Pakistan’s deteriorating economic condition. The Shehbaz Sharif government of India’s neighboring country Pakistan finally had to sell its government airline Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). PIA, which has been running in losses for a long time, has been sold to a local investment company for Rs 135 billion. The government had earlier also tried to privatize PIA, but the deal was postponed due to not getting the agreed price.
A formal ceremony regarding the privatization of PIA was organized in Islamabad, in which many big companies participated. Lucky Cement, investment firm Arif Habib and private airline AirBlue were involved in the bidding process. All three companies submitted their sealed bids in a transparent box. Bids were opened in the second phase, in which the highest bid came from Arif Habib Investment Firm and it bought PIA.
The government had fixed the reference price for PIA at Rs 100 billion. During the bidding, there was a tough competition between Arif Habib and Lucky Cement. The price increased to Rs 135 billion, after which Lucky Cement stepped back and congratulated Arif Habib. In this way, the PIA deal was finalized for Rs 135 billion, which is being described as the biggest privatization deal in the history of Pakistan.
The government argued behind Pakistan Airline being sold that the airline has been a victim of negligence, mismanagement and losses for a long time. The government had offered to sell 75 percent stake, while the investor has been given 90 days to buy the remaining 25 percent stake. 92.5 percent of the sale proceeds will be reinvested in PIA, while the rest will go to the government. Apart from this, the new investor will also have to make an additional investment of about Rs 80 billion in the next five years.
