ISLAMABAD: A consortium led by the Arif Habib Group on Tuesday emerged as the winning bidder for the acquisition of a 75 percent stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), submitting a top bid of Rs 135 billion —35 percent above the government’s reference price—and committing to invest an additional Rs 80 billion over the next five years. The Privatisation Commission held an open bidding for 75 percent shares of PIACL here at a local hotel. Muhammad Ali, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Privatisation, chaired the bidding process. In the early session, the three prequalified bidders submitted their sealed bids to the Privatisation Commission. Then, the Privatisation Commission’s board and Cabinet Committee on Privatisation scrutinised the bids in line with the Rs 100 billion reference price. PIA being put under the hammer today In the second phase, the Arif Habib Group-led consortium secured the PIA privatisation bid with a sum of Rs135 billion, while the Lucky Cement Group had increased its bid to Rs134 billion. The base price was fixed at Rs 115 billion, the top bid of the first phase. In the first phase, the Arif Habib Group–led consortium submitted the highest bid of Rs115 billion, followed by the Lucky Cement Limited– led consortium with Rs101.5 billion, while private airline Air Blue (Private) Ltd bid Rs26.5 billion. The Fauji Foundation had withdrawn from the bidding process to acquire PIA, leaving three bidders in the race ahead of the submission and opening of bids scheduled for December 23. Addressing the occasion, Muhammad Ali said that the divestment of PIA formed a key part of the government’s agenda. Expressing hope, he said that the PIA bidding would open new avenues for foreign investment and privatisation. The advisor said that the decision was taken in April for the sale of 51 to 100 per cent shares, which was later revised to the sale of 75 per cent shares with an option to give the right to buy a further 25 per cent shares within 90 days. He said that 92.5 per cent of the funds would be spent on PIA itself, while the government would receive the remaining 7.5 per cent revenue. He added that the aim was to raise the number of aircraft from 18 to 100, and that payment for the 75 per cent stake would be received in. For the PIA privatisation, the government put financial criteria for top bidders, including a minimum net worth (e.g., Rs30bn/USD 100m for individuals/lead consortia), significant annual revenue (eg, Rs200 billion for non-airlines), substantial cash/liquid assets (Rs28bn/USD100m), and commitment to invest at least Rs80 billion over the next five years to revive the airline, with the winning bid for a 75 percent shares. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, while speaking at the bidding ceremony, thanked the PM‘s aide and his team for their efforts and hailed the bidding process in terms of transparency. He lauded Pakistan‘s biggest conglomerates for “vying for the best airline” and said that the flag carrier would be led by investors and some of Pakistan’s most experienced businesspeople. Aurangzeb also expressed hope that the bidding would increase the number of local investors and, in turn, the number of foreign investors entering the country. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025