The sale of a majority stake in SAA to the Takatso Consortium has edged one important step closer to its conclusion. 

On Tuesday (July 25), news broke that the Competition Tribunal had approved the deal, with the proviso (already established by the Competition Commission), that the Takatso Consortium be purged of two minority shareholders, Global Aviation and Syranix, together holding a 20% stake in the consortium.  

The Tribunal added a new condition – that no jobs be lost in the process. 

The Competition Tribunal is the adjudication body that acts on recommendations by the Competition Commission. The Commission, in May this year, voiced the fear that Global Aviation, as the owner of a competing airline, Lift, would have access to competitive information which might result in a decrease in competition in the industry. 

Value of shares 

Now, the Takatso minority shareholder is actively trying to find a buyer for its stake, which amounts to 10.2% of the airline. The majority shareholder is Harith General Partners. 

Gidon Novick, speaking to Business Day in the July 26 issue, said Global Aviation had come to terms with the fact that it wouldn’t be involved in SAA.  

Touching on the value of SAA, and of Global’s shareholding, Novick said he understood SAA had a significant property portfolio and also subsidiaries, including SAA Technical and Air Chefs. Its fourth subsidiary, Mango, was in business rescue and looking for a buyer as it was not part of the Takatso deal. 

“The SAA business plan that we built for the consortium showed a very valuable regional airline group over time,” Novick told Business Day. Ideally the minorities would like to get multiple offers to get fair value for the shares. 

The final irony in the long tale is that Novick, as the representative of Global Aviation, entered the Takatso consortium at the behest of the DPE.  

Novick said in May: “We were approached by the DPE to acquire a 51% stake in SAA early in 2021 when LIFT was already operating. 

“At the request of the DPE, we partnered with Harith to form Takatso. Our team was to be responsible for industry expertise as minority shareholders, and Harith as majority shareholder, was to supply the funding.”