8 International Companies Offer to Privatize Money-Hungry PIA

Eight international companies have responded to Pakistan’s request for the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines. The Privatisation Commission received technical and financial proposals from eight advisory firms, said Minister for Privatisation Fawad Hasan Fawad on Monday. Three of the eight companies are the world’s top 20 firms in terms of transaction value. Rothschild & Co. ranks 12th, having handled about $56 billion in terms of total transactions. The Houlihan Lokey is ranked 16th. Houlihan Lokey has handled about $14 billion in transactions, followed by Ernest and Young, which ranks 17th and has handled approximately $13 billion worth of transactions. Besides the three companies mentioned above, five others responded to the Ministry of Privatization’s requests to submit proposals for creating a transaction structure for the sale of PIA assets. The firms were already involved in the competitive process launched by the Aviation Ministry to hire financial advisors for restructuring PIA. One of the firms, Alvarez and Marsal, has submitted documents as part of a collaboration with Rothschild and Co. Ernst & Young also took part in the Aviation Ministry’s procedure, while Tiagra Advisory and Investment Services, Investor Advisory Services (IAS), Cruise Aerospace, Ijaz Tabasum Advisory Services, and Ceabury Securities are among the other entities. Privatization Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad remarked that technical bids would be available soon. He said interested companies can also participate in the process via video links. The caretaker government hopes to appoint a financial adviser by mid-November and obtain a preliminary report on the bifurcation of PIA into good and bad assets by end-January 2024.