ISLAMABAD, March 10: The National Assembly was informed on Monday that Pakistan International Airlines was considering selling Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

In response to a question of PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar, Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal said in a written reply that a Roosevelt Task Force (RTF) was constituted under the terms of the shareholders agreement on June 2001.

The RTF was given a clear mandate for taking all decisions for reaching the best possible sale price for the Roosevelt Hotel in a minimum period of time.

About advertisement for the selection of a financial adviser for the property, he said the RTF at its meeting on April 28, 2002, decided to accelerate the process for the appointment of an Investment Adviser (IA).

In this connection, the Saudi representatives proposed that the RTF contained previous shortlist of companies presented to the PIAIL Board in April 2001. This list had been arrived at by a careful consideration of previous proposals received by the PIAIL and the Privatisation Commission. The RTF also took under consideration the cost factor and the time involved in going to the press.

It was decided not to go to the press for advertisement, he said, adding that 15 top companies were short-listed. These companies were issued Letters of Invitation (LoIs) for submitting their technical offers and financial bids separately. Only nine participated.

He said that the results of the technical analysis and financial scrutiny were combined and the resultant scores were calculated/tabulated in accordance with the process laid down in the LoI. Eastdil Realty Co. LLC was finally selected as the Investment Adviser for the sale of Roosevelt Hotel, the minister said.