The South African government has come out strongly to refute an unsolicited bid by private investors to acquire a majority stake in Airports Company South Africa (Acsa).
The Department of Transport revealed on Friday that it had been approached by prospective investors who expressed interest in acquiring equity in Acsa for an undisclosed amount of money.
Acsa’s shareholding is divided between the government at 74.6 percent, the Public Investment Corporation at 20 percent, and seven other minority shareholders splitting 5.4 percent among themselves.
Equity partners have probably been emboldened by the government’s willingness to allow private investors to take ownership of strategic state assets after the controversial acquisition of a majority stake of South African Airways by a group of private investors, Takatso Consortium.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula on Friday said that Acsa was not only a strategic national asset with an important role to play in South Africa’s economic reconstruction and recovery, but also in enabling the growth of the aviation sector in Africa.
Mbalula said it was on this basis that the government has no intention to divest the equity it holds in Acsa, in favour of private shareholding in the foreseeable future.
“We welcome the interest prospective investors continue to show in our country and in our public entities,” Mbalula said.
“We will continue to engage with these investors with a view to direct these investments to projects that we believe will add appropriate value to our service delivery mandate across the sector, and not equity. The aviation sector has massive potential for investment and we encourage investors to take advantage of the opportunities it presents.”
The department declined to name the prospective investors, but there was great deal of speculation that Mbalula was dismissing an offer by billionaire private investor Rob Hersov.
Last year, Mbaula and Hersov were caught in the cross-hairs when the outspoken businessman insulted the minister in public and said he was charming but not “very smart“.
However, the two men later buried the hatchet when Mbalula called Hersov and they spoke things through.
Two weeks ago, Hersov and his business partner Nick Ferguson - co-founders of RSA.aero - told The Nielsen Network (TNN) that they saw untapped value in six regional Acsa airports.
These are George, Gqeberha, East London, Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Upington. The idea is for ACSA to remain a minority stakeholder in these smaller airports.
“We are making a bid for the regional airports of Acsa, not Cape Town, Johannebsburg and Durban, and that’s what we would like to do right now,” Hersov said on TNN.
On Saturday, Hersov did not return requests for comment on his company’s bid for a controlling stake in these regional Acsa airports.
RSA.aero already owns the Cape Winelands Airport on the outskirts of Cape Town and is looking to unlock value by building a secondary airport for Cape Town.
This comes as Acsa is set to announce its financial results for the year ended March 2022 on Thursday, showing how the company was recovering from the devastating impact of Covid-19 restrictions on airport traffic.
Acsa spokesperson Gopolang Peme reiterated Mbalula’s statement most emphatically that Acsa was not for sale.
Peme said that Acsa, like many other global airports, was in the process of recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic which affected the industry severely.
“Acsa, as rightfully put by Minister Mbalula, is a ‘strategic national asset’ and our airports, especially the regional ones, continue to be one of the biggest drivers of employment in the provinces they lie in,” Peme said.
“Acsa continues to retain and attract some of the best brain trust in the country, and the recovery of our airports during this difficult period for the aviation sector has been impressive.
“Through the leadership of CEO Mpumi Mpofu we have a comprehensive Growth Strategy which will further unleash the full potential of our airports.”
BUSINESS REPORT