There have been many revival plans for SAA. The government recently announced that it may sell shares in SAA once the carrier has been resuscitated. The troubled airline has been grounded since March when the country went into lockdown to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The state-owned enterprise has been sucking up taxpayers’ money for over a decade. In October, finance minister Tito Mboweni approved another R10.5bn bailout for SAA. Barely a month later, Mboweni publicly questioned the continuous bailouts on his Twitter feed. With the airline industry in dire straits after a year of restricted travel, SAA might need to apply a festive season discount to its $400m price tag to attract investors. – Melani Nathan
South Africa seeks $400 million from buyer for stake in SAA
By Loni Prinsloo and Antony Sguazzin
(Bloomberg) — South Africa is looking to raise about $400m from the sale of a stake in its bankrupt national airline, according to people familiar with the situation, a plan likely to lower the chances of finding a partner to aid its revival.
The funds would be used to re-capitalise the reformed South African Airways, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information hasn’t been made public. The government is banking on SAA attracting interest because it holds some lucrative routes and valuable landing slots, such as at London’s Heathrow Airport, they said.
The Treasury referred questions to the Department of Public Enterprises, which didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Read also: FinMin questions SAA bailout in late night musings
South Africa’s search for a buyer of equity in SAA comes at a time when the aviation industry is mired in the biggest crisis in its history, having been laid low by the Covid-19 pandemic. Although Ethiopian Airlines has said it would consider a deal for SAA, Chief Executive Officer Tewolde GebreMariam has made clear he’s not interested in investing capital.
Ethiopian is still interested in SAA “but the process is slow as it is complex,” the CEO said in a response to queries last week. The department is in talks with Fairfax Africa about a stake in the airline, the Financial Mail reports, without saying how it got the information.
SAA’s revival plan
SAA has been unprofitable for almost a decade, surviving on state bailouts and government debt guarantees, and was placed under administration a year ago. The carrier has been lying dormant since March, when the fleet was grounded due to travel bans to contain the coronavirus.
South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni agreed in October to fund a revival plan that includes firing almost 80% of SAA’s workforce, a sum calculated by the administrators as about R10.5bn ($685m). The outlay, yet to be delivered, is intended to get SAA flying again.
“You won’t get a meeting of minds, as no other airline will want to put in money to subsidize SAA,” said Joachim Vermooten, an independent aviation analyst in South Africa when asked if SAA could attract direct funding. “The current plans very clearly demonstrate that it’s not a viable proposition.”
Read also: Nobody wants SAA baggage – business rescue practitioner
The country’s largest banks are nearing agreement to provide about half of the initial amount needed, the people said. London-based Barclays may provide some of the balance in support of a government injection of about R2bn, the people said.
Securing funding could take pressure off the government, which is facing a fiscal crisis should it fail to contain surging debt. The National Treasury had said the cash for the revival plan would be diverted from other state budgets including health and education.
Representatives of South Africa’s biggest lenders and Barclays declined to comment, as did SAA’s administrators.
