Pakistan drops lease option for Roosevelt Hotel, eyes sale or joint venture

ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission Board on Friday approved the proposed transaction structure for the long-delayed divestment of Roosevelt Hotel in New York, eliminating the leasing option and narrowing its focus to either an outright sale or a joint venture, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The board meeting, chaired by Muhammad Ali, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Privatisation/Chairman Privatisation Commission, reviewed multiple structuring options submitted by the Financial Advisory Consortium led by Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. (JLL) and finalised its recommendation for submission to the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) for final approval.

Previously, the financial adviser had proposed three options for the PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel -- an outright sale, joint venture, or a 99-year lease. However, now the board has scrapped the lease option in favour of the other two. It will be presented before the CCOP to finalise one of these two options. In another major development, the board scrapped the ongoing bidding process for appointing a financial adviser for the privatisation of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), citing unreasonably high financial proposals. The commission will now re-advertise the advisory mandate in a bid to attract more competitive offers.