The Cabinet at a July 9th meeting has decided to terminate the current bidding process for the divestiture of national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines, a State Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit statement has said.
The statement further adds that instead, “alternate strategy to be decided shortly, to divest the airline base on a framework approved by Cabinet of Ministers”.
Colombo called for bids in September to sell SriLankan Airlines, a key IMF demand when granting a bailout loan to the country last year.
Six firms had initially expressed interest in taking a stake in the airline, which owed more than $2.0 billion at the end of the 2022/2023 financial year.
The government announced in April a shortlist of three potential investors, including Malaysia’s Air Asia.
