14 March 2023
Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has announced that SAA’s deal with strategic equity partner Takatso has been terminated, in a setback to one of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s biggest privatisation drives amid pushback from some in the governing ANC party.
“Late last week there was agreement that by mutual consent this transaction should be terminated as there is no clear path forward,” Gordhan said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. He said that in a post-Covid market, a new valuation on the national carrier’s worth was made and this overshot Takatso’s original R3bn offer
After Gordhan’s announcement, the Takatso Consortium said in a statement: “In 2021, when Takatso expressed its interest in acquiring the controlling stake in SAA, it was at a time when market conditions were conducive, and the aviation sector was poised for rebound opportunities, post-pandemic.
“Takatso was however always clear in its analysis even then, that the opportunities presented by market conditions prevailing at the time were limited in such a competitive market, and time was of the essence in seizing them. At that time, SAA, which was in business rescue and had been grounded, had ambitions to restart operations.”
It said about six months ago – “and in recognition of the restart of operations and very different dynamics that were then at play, including the reality that SAA was no longer in business rescue as it was when the transaction was first discussed and negotiated” – the parties “agreed to re-evaluate and re-open negotiations on the transaction structure and the current value of SAA”.
“Despite the fact that the parties had already signed a valid, binding and enforceable Share Purchase Agreement in February 2022, Takatso agreed in good faith to this re-negotiation, because it was committed to trying to find solutions, and was determined to ensure that the transaction would continue to be founded on fairness and recognition of the strategic value of SAA.
