ISLAMABAD: The Pri­­vatisation Commis­sion has granted access to the virtual data room of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL) to four shortlisted parties for conducting buy-side due diligence ahead of the airline’s privatisation.

The commission infor­med the National Asse­m­bly Standing Committee on Privatisation on Mon­day that the pre-qualification committee had fi­­nalised four entities — a consortium comprising Lucky Cement Ltd, Hub Power Holdings Ltd, Kohat Cement Company Ltd and Metro Ventures Limited; a consortium comprising Arif Habib Corporation Ltd, Fatima Fertiliser Company Ltd, The City School Ltd, and Lake City Holdings Ltd; Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd; and Air Blue.

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The virtual data room — an online repository used for document stora­­ge and sharing — facilita­tes due diligence proces­ses typically associated with mergers and acquisitions, loan syndication, private equity and venture capital transactions.

A meeting of the standing committee, chaired by Muhammad Farooq Sat­tar, also passed the Priv­a­tisation Com­mis­­sion (Am­­endment) Bill 2024 — a government-sponsored bill — by a majority vote.

A finance ministry official informed the committee that Rs3 billion had been approved for Postal Life Insurance Company Limited, while an additional Rs3bn will be disbursed in the third and fourth quarters of the current financial year, as per the committee’s directive.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2025