ISLAMABAD: The privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) reached a landmark stage as the Arif Habib consortium emerged as the winning bidder, securing a 75% stake in the national carrier with a final offer of Rs135 billion. The announcement followed the conclusion of the second and final phase of bidding, supervised by the Privatisation Commission in Islamabad, with federal ministers, senior officials, and representatives of bidding consortia present.
The final round began with a base price of Rs115 billion. Intense bidding saw Lucky Cement and Arif Habib progressively raising their offers, with Lucky Cement reaching Rs134 billion before Arif Habib sealed the deal at Rs135 billion. Earlier, three pre-qualified bidders had submitted sealed offers, with Air Blue offering Rs26.5 billion, below the government’s reference price.
Privatisation Commission Chairman Muhammad Ali described the transaction as a historic milestone, noting it is the first large-scale privatisation in nearly 20 years. Under the deal, 92.5% of the proceeds will be reinvested in PIA to support operations and restructuring, while 7.5% will go to the federal government.
Officials expect that private capital and professional management will stabilise PIA’s finances, enhance operational efficiency, and improve overall performance as the process moves towards regulatory approvals and ownership transfer.
