The sale of Mango Airlines to an unnamed buyer, which has been creaking along since mid-2021, could be on the verge of collapse.
Sipho Sono, Mango’s Business Rescue Practitioner (BRP) has notified affected parties that Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Public Enterprises, has withheld a final decision on the application for approval for the disposal of SAA’s shares in Mango.
“Given the sudden turn of events, there is now the possibility that the transaction or Investor Process contemplated in section 3 above may have to be abandoned and for the BRP to implement the wind-down process that is already incorporated in the adopted BR Plan,” says the status report to creditors, dated December 31, 2022.
Sono said: “We understand that the Minister wrote to SAA on or about December 20, 2022, expressing a view that he was not completely satisfied with the responses to the queries that were raised by SAA.” But he said it was only following an SAA board meeting on January 10, 2023, that the BRP was provided with a letter from SAA dated January 11, summarising the DPE and National Treasury's concerns.
“The BRP is considering the SAA letter to determine whether the issues raised are capable of resolution, and feedback in respect hereof will be provided to affected parties in due course,” said the update.
