4HolerPoler
23rd Mar 2007, 13:33
Here's a good one:
SunAir Holdings, the airline that is yet to take off with its much mooted flights between Cape Town and London, claims it has raised R1.5bn from an offshore investor. According to a newsletter sent out by the company, CEO Andre Shaban said SunAir had "concluded an agreement with an organisation who has bought equity in SunAir Holdings Limited in excess of R1.5bn." The investing organisation was not identified - which is a disturbing omission considering the size and importance of the claimed investment. Shaban told Fin24 on Friday that the offshore investor could not be identified at this stage. "We are not advertising who the investor is... there are still quite a lot of things to be finalised before we can make it public." Could the reluctance to disclose the identity of the investor be because funding has not actually been secured yet? If that's the case then SunAir has jumped the gun. But Shaban was certain an announcement disclosing the investor party would be made within the next 12 weeks.
To put matters in context, the claimed investment of R1.5bn represents funding that is roughly equivalent to the market capitalisation of JSE listed airline group Comair. Comair has been operating profitably for decades in SA, while SunAir was started a few years ago with a couple of million rands in seed capital. Not too long ago Fin24 and sister medium Finweek was commenting on SunAir's arduous process of raising capital from members of the public via a handful of share placement agents. SunAir, which currently comprises of a Bellville-based travel agent and a car rental brokerage :eek: , is still subject of much scepticism in aviation circles. Most observers felt the prime movers behind SunAir would not be able to raise the capital needed to secure aircraft without a big pocketed backer. In the newsletter Shaban noted: "Negotiations like this are extremely delicate and it unfortunately does take a lot of effort and time to conclude, hence the long wait for the news to be made public to our investors." He added that with this capital behind SunAir, the group has commenced discussions to obtain existing aviation operations.
But curiously the securing of R1.5bn in funding has, according to Shaban, delayed a portion of SunAir's roadmap. He indicates that SunAir would soon be in a position to negotiate for additional aircraft and apply for scheduled flight routes rather than charters. SunAir's original roadmap pencilled in scheduled flights between Cape Town and London by November 2006 and then revised the take-of date to mid-2007. It seems now that aircraft will only be available from October this year. SunAir has also indicated that funding developments would mean that the group's long awaited prospectus would need revising. Finweek and Fin24 have persistently questioned SunAir's attempts to raise funding from the public without a prospectus in issue.
Watch this space.
4HP
SunAir Holdings, the airline that is yet to take off with its much mooted flights between Cape Town and London, claims it has raised R1.5bn from an offshore investor. According to a newsletter sent out by the company, CEO Andre Shaban said SunAir had "concluded an agreement with an organisation who has bought equity in SunAir Holdings Limited in excess of R1.5bn." The investing organisation was not identified - which is a disturbing omission considering the size and importance of the claimed investment. Shaban told Fin24 on Friday that the offshore investor could not be identified at this stage. "We are not advertising who the investor is... there are still quite a lot of things to be finalised before we can make it public." Could the reluctance to disclose the identity of the investor be because funding has not actually been secured yet? If that's the case then SunAir has jumped the gun. But Shaban was certain an announcement disclosing the investor party would be made within the next 12 weeks.
To put matters in context, the claimed investment of R1.5bn represents funding that is roughly equivalent to the market capitalisation of JSE listed airline group Comair. Comair has been operating profitably for decades in SA, while SunAir was started a few years ago with a couple of million rands in seed capital. Not too long ago Fin24 and sister medium Finweek was commenting on SunAir's arduous process of raising capital from members of the public via a handful of share placement agents. SunAir, which currently comprises of a Bellville-based travel agent and a car rental brokerage :eek: , is still subject of much scepticism in aviation circles. Most observers felt the prime movers behind SunAir would not be able to raise the capital needed to secure aircraft without a big pocketed backer. In the newsletter Shaban noted: "Negotiations like this are extremely delicate and it unfortunately does take a lot of effort and time to conclude, hence the long wait for the news to be made public to our investors." He added that with this capital behind SunAir, the group has commenced discussions to obtain existing aviation operations.
But curiously the securing of R1.5bn in funding has, according to Shaban, delayed a portion of SunAir's roadmap. He indicates that SunAir would soon be in a position to negotiate for additional aircraft and apply for scheduled flight routes rather than charters. SunAir's original roadmap pencilled in scheduled flights between Cape Town and London by November 2006 and then revised the take-of date to mid-2007. It seems now that aircraft will only be available from October this year. SunAir has also indicated that funding developments would mean that the group's long awaited prospectus would need revising. Finweek and Fin24 have persistently questioned SunAir's attempts to raise funding from the public without a prospectus in issue.
Watch this space.
4HP