Tycoon Tshepo Mahloele’s Harith cleared to buy FlySafair

Harith General Partners, the Johannesburg investment firm co-founded and chaired by South African tycoon Tshepo Mahloele, has won final competition approval to buy FlySafair, the budget airline that carries more of the country’s domestic passengers than any other.

South Africa’s Competition Tribunal cleared the deal with conditions, Harith and FlySafair said on Thursday. The transaction, through Harith’s subsidiary Harith Aviation, is valued at about 7 billion rand ($420 million) and is expected to close before the end of the year, once the remaining approvals and conditions are met.

“It is a demonstration of long-term South African capital backing a successful South African business,” said Sipho Makhubela, Harith’s chief executive.

FlySafair’s chief executive, Elmar Conradie, said the airline welcomed the decision. “As the remaining conditions are met, we look forward to embarking on a new chapter for FlySafair,” he said. The airline will keep its current management and continue to run as an independent business.

Conditions tied to Lanseria

The conditions relate to Harith’s stake of about 37% in Lanseria International Airport, north of Johannesburg, the country’s only privately owned international airport. The Competition Commission, which recommended approval in July, said the companies must limit the exchange of sensitive information and offer airport services at Lanseria to other airlines on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The tribunal has not yet published its full conditions.

Harith is buying the airline from Ireland’s ASL Aviation Holdings. The two sides signed the agreement in February. Harith has said the deal will make up about 15% of its portfolio and will be paid for with a mix of debt and equity.

Settling an ownership fight

The sale is also expected to end a long dispute over who controls FlySafair. South African law requires local airlines to be at least 75% owned and controlled by South Africans. In 2024, after a complaint from rival Lift, the Domestic Air Services Council ruled that FlySafair was in breach because trusts and companies, rather than individuals, held 75% of its voting rights, and found that ASL effectively controlled almost 75% of the airline. FlySafair challenged the ruling in court. Transferring ownership to a South African group is meant to settle the question.

FlySafair began flying in 2014 with two aircraft and now operates more than 40 Boeing 737s on 26 routes, with about 164 flights a day. It has more than 60% of South Africa’s domestic seat capacity, a position it built after the collapse of Comair, which ran British Airways and kulula.com flights, and the shrinking of state-owned South African Airways.

A long hunt for an airline

The deal gives Mahloele the airline he has pursued for years. Harith led the Takatso consortium that agreed in 2021 to buy 51% of South African Airways, a deal that fell apart in 2023, and also made unsuccessful bids for Comair and South African Express.

Mahloele co-founded Harith in 2006. The firm manages about $3 billion of assets across African infrastructure, including rail, airports, logistics and border posts, and counts the Public Investment Corporation, which manages South African public servants’ pensions, among its shareholders.