KARACHI: Shaheen Air International (SAI) on Thursday claimed that it has finalised an acquisition deal with a Saudi prince and the takeover is likely to happen in the next two months.

Acting Chief Executive Officer Javed Sehbai said “We have finalised the deal with a Saudi prince. We will be conducting a press conference very soon to announce about our Investor and share the details of the acquisition. This deal will be a breakthrough for the airline as well as for Pakistani aviation industry itself.”

He added that “it’s a matter of few weeks that Shaheen Air will be in skies again and shine brighter than before. We are very thankful to our regulator Civil Aviation Authority and Federal Board of Revenue. Due payments of government regulatory bodies and our employees’ salaries are our first priority and will be cleared during the first stage of our investment plans”.

Tile maker plans new products

Shabbir Tiles and Ceramics Ltd (STILE) is planning to invest Rs0.5 billion in a bid to expand production capacity and introduce new products.

The investment is in addition to Rs1.25bn announced earlier by the company to reduce costs and improve product quality to compete in international markets.

Chief Executive Officer STILE Masood Jaffrey said the multi-phased investment will modernise plant and machinery, support product development and strengthen dealership network.

He said that the increase in gas prices and rupee devaluation has increased production costs by 30 per cent. He asked the government to support local industry and promote tile industry by including it in the five zero-rated export oriented industries.

He also urged the government to raise import trade prices (ITP) of imported tiles and curb smuggling of Iranian tiles in the country. He urged the government to review ITPs set for tiles based on the data that can be sought from exporting countries and withdraw the unfair advantage to imported tiles.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2018