Overseas Pakistani group offers Rs100 billion to acquire PIA

ISLAMABAD: An overseas Pakistani group, Al-Nihang’s, has made an offer of Rs. 100 billion for the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), ARY News reported.

The group in its offer letter written to to Ministers of Privatisation, Minister of Aviation, Minister of Defense, and other authorities, outlined its proposalto acquire complete ownership of the PIA.

The key points of Al-Nihang’s offer

Share Purchase in Alignment with Tender Proposal

Al-Nihang’s Group said that it will acquire the full shareholding of PIA in accordance with the terms outlined in the tender proposal, assuming comprehensive ownership.

Debt Settlement: The group offered to pay off PIA’s Rs. 250 billion debts.

No Employee Layoffs: The group has promised not to lay off any employees, instead offering a 100% increase in salaries over 30 months.

Business Plan: Al-Nihang’s pledged to implement a robust business plan, including the introduction of modern aircraft to PIA’s fleet.

Engineering and Maintenance Hub: The group has also proposed establishing PIA as an engineering and maintenance hub for other airlines.

The developments came days after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government expressed interest in participating in the PIA privatization bidding.

According to details, the KP Investment Board wrote to Federal Minister for Privatization Abdul Aleem Khan, expressing its intention to submit a bid.

Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif said that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz advised him to buy Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and rebrand it ‘Air Punjab.’

In a statement, Nawaz Sharif said, “Maryam sought advice from me, asking if we should take over the PIA and make it a brand new airline.”

Meanwhile, the final bidding process for the PIA privatization saw just one bid of Rs10 billion ($36 million) for a 60% stake in the national flag carrier.

The government had pre-qualified six groups in June, but only real-estate development company Blue World City participated in the bidding process, placing a bid that was below the government-set minimum price of Rs85 billion.