ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission on Tuesday invited expressions of interest (EOIs) for divestment of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL) through privatisation.

Interested parties that are companies, firms, body corporate or other legal entities (and not individuals or the federal or provincial government or any enterprise owned or controlled by the federal or provincial governments) can submit EOIs by May 03, 2024.

The federal government and PIA Holding Company through the privatisation commission invite EOIs from prospective investors to acquire between 51 per cent and 100 per cent share capital of PIACL (consisting as a single class of ordinary shares) together with management control (the equity stake).

With the objective to restructure and privatise PIACL, the federal government has incorporated a company limited by shares called PIA Holding Company Limited (PIA Holdco). PIACL and PIA Holdco have filed a scheme of arrangement (SOA) with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under the Companies Act 2017, for inter alia, the transfer of certain non-core assets and non-core liabilities as set out in the SOA (the non-core undertaking) to PIA Holdco.

Pursuant to the SOA, the PIACL will continue to hold certain core assets and core liabilities as set out in the SOA (the core undertaking).

The core undertaking includes assets, liabilities, employees pertaining to air transport operations and allied services (including ground handling flight training, cargo engineering and flight kitchen), rights and obligations under various operational agreements executed by PIACL including the air services agreements, code sharing agreements, passenger sales agency agreements and foreign loan agreements.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024