Overseas Pakistani group offers Rs100 billion to acquire PIA 

SLAMABAD: An overseas Pakistani group, Al-Nihang’s, has made a formal offer of Rs. 100 billion to acquire Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) through the privatization process, as reported by ARY News.

In a letter addressed to the Ministers of Privatization, Aviation, Defense, and other relevant authorities, Al-Nihang’s group outlined a detailed proposal to take full ownership of PIA.

Key Points of Al-Nihang’s Proposal

1. Acquisition of Full Shareholding: Al-Nihang’s group expressed its intent to acquire PIA’s entire shareholding in line with the requirements stated in the tender proposal, thus assuming full ownership.
2. Debt Repayment: The group has pledged to settle PIA’s outstanding debts, amounting to Rs. 250 billion.
3. Job Security and Salary Increase: Al-Nihang’s group committed to retaining all existing employees, guaranteeing no layoffs. Additionally, they proposed a 100% increase in employee salaries over the next 30 months.
4. Enhanced Business Operations: The proposal includes a comprehensive business plan aimed at revitalizing PIA, including the addition of modern aircraft to the airline’s fleet.
5. Engineering and Maintenance Hub: Al-Nihang’s also proposed transforming PIA into a regional engineering and maintenance hub, servicing other airlines.

These developments follow interest shown by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in the PIA privatization process. The KP Investment Board recently communicated its intention to bid to the Federal Minister for Privatization, Abdul Aleem Khan.

Previously, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif shared that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had suggested purchasing PIA with plans to rebrand it as ‘Air Punjab.’ According to Nawaz Sharif, Maryam sought his advice on the matter, proposing the establishment of a newly branded airline.

In the recent final bidding round for PIA’s privatization, only one bid was received: a Rs10 billion ($36 million) offer from Blue World City, a real estate company. This bid fell short of the government’s set minimum price of Rs85 billion, despite the prequalification of six groups for the bidding process back in June.