JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African government said on Thursday that its planned sale of 51% of shares in national airline South African Airways (SAA) to the Takatso Consortium was progressing and would now need approval by regulators.
A cabinet statement read: “The Sales and Purchase process has now been concluded and signed by the Department of Public Enterprises and Takatso Consortium. The next step involves the approval of this transaction by various regulatory bodies.”
The South African government in June had signed an agreement with the Takatso Consortium to sell the stake in the beleaguered state-owned carrier to the consortium, which had promised to invest over 3 billion rand to revive the airline.
“Takatso is confident that the re-launched SAA has strong growth prospects domestically, regionally and internationally,” the consortium said in a statement on Thursday.
It said it would also consider partnerships with other aviation players to achieve the airline’s growth strategy.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning;Editing by Alison Williams and Alexandra Hudson)
