Islamabad October 31 2024: Blue World City has emerged as the sole bidder for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) under terms outlined by the Pakistani government, offering PKR 10 billion.
This bid represents just 11% of the PKR 85 billion benchmark established by the Privatization Commission for the sale of a 60% stake in PIA.
Commission gives 30 minutes to the bidders to revise it’s bid but Blue World City refuses to revise it to PC benchmark.
Rules and regulations indicate that the ball is now in court of the Privatisation Commission to declare Blue World City as the highest ranked bidder or cancel the bidding process.
Six groups were initially shortlisted to bid for shares in the struggling national carrier, including Airblue Ltd., Arif Habib Corporation Ltd., Air Arabia’s Fly Jinnah, Y.B. Holdings Pvt., Pak Ethanol Pvt., and the real estate consortium Blue World City.
Blue World City had a consortium that included Blue World Aviation and IRIS Communication Limited. The group is also looking into acquiring operations of the Islamabad International Airport which the government is looking to outsource.
This privatization move is part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s commitment to the International Monetary Fund to reduce the economic strain on the country by selling off loss-making public enterprises
