A potential buyer for SWG Corporate has emerged, as the group moves forward with plans to liquidate Serendipity Tours. The liquidation includes the group’s wholesale division, the SWG ITC ticketing division and the Serendipity Leisure Travel Division.
Kim van den Berg, who was previously contracted to SWG group as its operations manager, told Travel News that she was currently in negotiations with SWG group operations director, Dinesh Naidoo, to purchase SWG corporate and retain the division’s corporate clients. Kim explained that her contract with SWG had ended in March and, like many professionals in the industry at the moment, she was considering starting up on her own. She confirmed that if the sale went through, Dinesh would not continue as a director of SWG Corporate but added that, as he had always been a mentor of hers, she was certain that she would be able to call on him for assistance.
Dinesh told Travel News that nine companies fell under the SWG group umbrella and while Serendipity Tours was in the process of liquidating, Kim would be purchasing SWG Corporate, which was a separate entity from Serendipity Tours.
Regardless of whether the deal goes ahead or not, all contracts for staff employed by Serendipity Tours will be terminated, says Dinesh, who confirms that the company has already begun the retrenchment process.
Travel News previously reported that SWG would close its wholesale and ITC division due to the impact that the receipt of R5,5m in ADMs from Kenya Airways had had on the business.
“We never expected this to happen, nor that we would be forced into a position where we would have to terminate all of our staff. This is difficult, new and uncertain territory for us,” says Dinesh, who confirms that he will communicate details of the liquidator as soon as the Master of the Court appoints one.
