Last week when Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, announced that the Takatso consortium, headed by Harith General Partners, would acquire 51 per cent of beleaguered state-owned airline SAA, the financials around just how the transaction would be funded were left murky, reports Business Day.
Harith will not commit any of “its existing private equity infrastructure funds for the airline, which are already fully committed.” Harith will also have to consult with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) about raising capital for new investment as the PIC owns 30 per cent of Harith.
Takatso said it would commit R3 billion to SAA over the next three years but that isn’t the price of buying a 51 per cent stake in the airline but merely the amount it has assured the government it will pump into SAA.
The deal to acquire a stake in SAA has not been finalised as yet either as the deal still has to go through due diligence processes.
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