Joint Provisional Liquidators (JPL) tasked with disposing of South African Express (EXY, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) have called for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from buyers interested in acquiring the bankrupt carrier either as a whole or piecemeal.
According to an online auction notice, the JPLs are looking for EOIs covering either the sale of the business in its entirety as a going concern, investment as an equity partner, or a buyer for part or all of the airline's assets.
Among the hardware listed are four CRJ200ERs - ZS-NMI (msn 7153), ZS-NML (msn 7201), ZS-NMM (msn 7234), and ZS-NMN (msn 7237) - all parked at Johannesburg O.R. Tambo as well as associated General Electric CF34-3B1 powerplants, spare parts, rotables, tools, and support equipment. SA Express's various licences (operator's licence, AOC, AMO, ATNS, ICASA etc.) are also up for sale alongside its IT infrastructure, and all other "intangible assets required to operate an airline in Southern Africa".
The deadline for the submission of offers is July 21, 2020.
SA Express is in provisional liquidation and would have gone into final liquidation on June 9 had its JPLs not asked for an extension until September 9 to allow the airline's sole shareholder, the South African state, time to explore all avenues of opportunity regarding its salvage. At the time, Aviwe Ndyamara, who heads the team tasked with the provisional liquidation of SA Express, told a parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in June that "seven parties" had shown an interest in the airline.
Any sale must be completed in early July as SA Express has two licences which are set to expire on July 31, 2020, and December 31, 2020, respectively. The intention is, therefore, to complete either a sales or investment agreement before the expiration of the licences.
