COLOMBO: Sri Lankan State Enterprise Development Minister Kabir Hashim said, Sri Lanka received nine bids from international airlines in response to the call for bids to privatize its loss-making national Sri Lankan Airlines and out of those three bidders are shortlisted.
The three shortlisted bidders out of the initial nine are Texas Pacific Group (TPG), PeaceAir Pvt Ltd and the Maldivian company Super Group Partners.
According to details, none of the bidders were from a major international airline operator the Minister said adding that the government is looking into whether the companies have adequate and reliable funding for the proposals.
Minister Hashim, who is heading a three-member ministerial panel to decide the future of the carrier, said it is imperative to find a bidder soon as the Treasury has said that it will stop funding the loss-making carrier soon.
However, efforts to salvage the debt-ridden airline will continue, the Minister said addressing a media briefing Friday.
The Prime Minister had also informed the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) that if currently shortlisted companies were not satisfactory, another three-member ministerial committee comprising ministers Sarath Amunugama, Malika Samarawickrema and Kabir Hashim would be appointed and fresh bids for the Airline would be called.
Minister Hashim said the Airline’s accumulated losses are over $2 billion. The national carrier had made huge losses during the previous regime. The carrier last made a profit in 2009, a year before its operations were acquired by the previous government from Emirates.
Emirates acquired a 40% stake in Sri Lankan for $70 million in 1998 and increased its shareholding to 43.6%, with the government holding a 51% majority. But the partners hit troubles in 2008, triggering the government buy-back in 2010.
The Minister said that inquiries will be held on local and international level to investigate the aircraft deals taken place during the last regime.
