Uprise Group Bids for PIA Privatization
The Uprise Group has thrown its hat into the ring for the privatization bid for the national flag career, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), spearheaded by Pakistani seasoned entrepreneur Tabassum Pardesi.
Pardesi, renowned for her pioneering role in the aviation industry, now leads the Uprise Group. This conglomerate encompasses Uprise Markets, Uprise Africa, and Uprise Aviation. She has a proven track record in strategic planning, operational excellence, and financial management.
Pardesi’s involvement in the bid for PIA privatization comes with a history intertwined with PIA. Her brief stint as Director of Customer Services at PIA in 2017, which lasted only four months, concluded with her resignation citing dissatisfaction with the management’s failure to enact essential reforms, according to her resignation letter.
In the missive, Pardesi outlined a series of recommendations aimed at revitalizing PIA’s standing and operational efficacy. These suggestions encompassed a focus on customer service and operational safety, a reevaluation of financial strategies, organizational restructuring, strategic visioning, fleet planning, financial injection strategies, toxicity mitigation, enhanced internal communication, and leveraging expertise from aviation investors.
The documented challenges within PIA’s management and operations, as illuminated by Pardesi’s letter, underscore the imperative for comprehensive reforms within Pakistan’s aviation sector.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has also approved the Scheme of Arrangement between Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIA) and PIA Holding Company Limited (HoldCo).
Earlier endorsed by the Federal Cabinet, the legal segregation plan of PIA and the Scheme received a nod, directing the Aviation Division, PIA, and HoldCo to undertake necessary corporate and regulatory actions for implementation. Last month, shareholders and creditors of PIA also greenlit the scheme.
The restructuring initiative entails the legal demarcation of PIA’s core aviation business from its non-core activities and the transfer of its non-aviation-related business from PIA to HoldCo. The approval of the scheme paves the way for HoldCo to acquire a 100 percent shareholding in PIA and the simultaneous issuance and allotment of shares by HoldCo to qualifying shareholders of PIA.
