KUALA LUMPUR: Capital A Bhd's consulting unit AirAsia Consulting Sdn Bhd is believed to be one of the final three bidders in the run to acquire SriLankan Airlines (SAL).
The company is believed to be running up against two Sri Lankan business giants - a consortium of Sherisha Technologies Pte Ltd, Supreme Global Holdings and Qatar's MBS Investment and one of Sri Lanka's largest conglomerate, Hayley's PLC.
Business Times reached out to Capital A for confirmation but the company declined to comment at the moment.
According to Centre for Aviation, the Sri Lankan government had selected the three companies as the final bidders in May.
It added that the privatisation deal for SAL was supposed to be completed by the end of this month but the process is believed to have been delayed with no exact completion date currently.
In April this year, Capital A chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes clarified that it was AirAsia Consulting acquiring the stakes in SAL and not the company's airline unit, AirAsia as reported by some media.
He added that AirAsia Consulting would raise its own funds for the SAL purchase if the move materialised.
"AirAsia Consulting is also looking for opportunities to invest in airlines outside of Asean," Fernandes said, adding that Bangladesh is another market that presents a good opportunity for AirAsia Consulting to invest in.
Airasia Consulting offers consulting services to airlines based on the vast experience and success of AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd, which is the umbrella company of AirAsia.
SAL is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka. In a bid to reduce losses that the airline has been incurring, the Sri Lankan government decided to privatised the carrier by selling its shares to interested parties under a US$2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
SAL, which is facing tough competition from its neighboring India-based carriers, has an all Airbus fleet comprising of 12 wide-body A330 and 12 narrow-body A320 and A321 family aircraft.
The carrier serves 114 destinations in 62 countries including domestic Sri Lanka destinations as well as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Delhi, Bangalore, Kathmandu, Dubai, Doha, Melbourne, Paris and London, to name a few.
SAL is based in Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo and is a member of oneworld alliance.