South African Airways’ Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) Siviwe Dongwana and Les Matuson, have received an extension from lenders and creditors to publish the Business Rescue Plan on March 31.
According to the Companies Act, the Business Rescue Plan needed to be published by the end of February but the BRPs had written to lenders and creditors requesting an extension in terms of Section 150 (5) of the Act. The letter was sent on February 26 (Wednesday) and the “the requisite majority of creditors holding voting interests in the SAA” approved the extension today.
The extension was requested due to the “complexity and extent of engagement that is required in a business of this size”, said Louise Brugman, spokesperson for the BRPs.
“We believe that a further extension of one month will allow sufficient time for us to finalise the draft plan. We then intend to communicate the plan to the creditors’ committee, the employees’ committee and the shareholders, prior to the actual public publication of the plan,” said Brugman.
She highlighted that the practitioners and SAA were in the process of finalisation of the proposed restructuring plan and the steps required to implement the proposed restructuring plan, which would be encompassed in the draft Business Rescue Plan.
According to her, the employees’ committee, creditors’ committee and the Department of Public Enterprises will be provided with an opportunity to make representations to the practitioners regarding the draft Business Rescue Plan and to consult the practitioners in respect of such representations.
“After the practitioners have considered and discussed the aforesaid representations, the final draft of the Business Rescue Plan will be published by the practitioners and will be voted upon by creditors at a meeting convened for this purpose,” explained Brugman.
The meeting of creditors to decide whether to approve the Business Rescue Plan must be convened within 10 days of the date of the publication of the plan.
“We are still in the process of finalising the steps to implement the proposed restructuring option as well as the anticipated effect the plan will have on stakeholders, including the estimated return to creditors,” the BRPs noted in a press statement.
The troubled national carrier was placed under business rescue on December 5 last year with the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, reiterating recently that liquidation of the airline was not an option as this would impact market confidence.
