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SAA to sell 49 per cent of its stake in Air Tanzania
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The South African Airways (SAA) is to sell 49 per cent of its holding stake in the troubled Air Tanzania Company Ltd (ATCL), completely severing a failed five-year strategic alliance between the two airlines. SAA is seeking to recover the $20 million it
had injected into ATCL when it acquired its interest in the airline, an issue that poses a new hurdle for the disengagement between the carriers.
SAA corporate communications manager, Sarah Uys, told reporters in Johannesburg that SAA will sell the shares to recover the $20 million investment and the management support it offered. The partnership between the two carriers was effectively ended in March when the SAA board resolved to strike ATCL off its books.
"Negotiations for the share sale will commence soon," Ms Uys said. Lufthansa Consulting GMBH, a subsidiary of German carrier Lufthansa, has been contracted by the Tanzanian government to come up with a new model for a completely new national carrier within the shortest time possible.
Lufthansa's specific mandate will be to come up with a business plan and a formula for recapitalizing ATCL and strengthening its competitive position in the region.
The Tanzania government and SAA have jointly owned ATCL since 2002 on a 51-49 share basis, on the understanding that a further 10 per cent of the government stake would be sold to a Tanzania investor identified by SAA. But at the moment, SAA is engaged in negotiations with ATCL regarding the details of disengagement.
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