SAA creditors back business rescue, financing details to follow
SAA’s creditors have given the stricken state-owned airline’s revised business rescue plan the green light, with 86% of them voting in favour of it.
This means the company’s joint business rescue practitioners, Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana, can finally move forward with a restructure of the airline’s business after their appointment in December 2019, and also removes from the table the prospect of a protracted liquidation.
The restructure requires R10bn. A total of 75% was needed to pass the rescue plan.
When presenting the result of the vote on Tuesday afternoon, Dongwana said there were “certain conditions” needed to ensure the implementation of the plan, such as government funding, and that was why they had allowed the department of public enterprises’ acting director-general, Kgathatso Tlhakudi, to make a presentation to the meeting spelling out the government’s commitment to rescuing SAA.
Dongwana said in line with that, the government had also told the business rescue practitioners that it was in full support of the plan “and committed to raising the requisite funding”. In this regard a “letter to this effect will be delivered to the business rescue practitioners” on July 15.
July 15 was the deadline outlined in the business rescue plan.
“We are looking forward to receiving that letter and that commitment to funding from the government.”
Dongwana thanked all the stakeholders who participated and continued to “support SAA during this very difficult process”.
“We believe this support, as well as the compromises made along the way, are absolutely critical if we are to ensure that business rescue as an instrument of our law succeeds in doing what it seeks to do for distressed businesses in our country. We would also like to extend our apologies to those we may have upset or rubbed up the wrong way. The intentions have always been noble and we have always wanted to do what is right for SAA, so please accept our apologies.”
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