South Africa’s third-biggest telecom operator, Cell C, plans to hive off assets into a new special purpose vehicle (SPV), the country’s competition watchdog said on Thursday, as part of a plan to restructure the company’s debt, Reuters reported. Gatsby SPV has been set up for the purpose of the proposed transaction, the Competition Commission said in a statement. It did not give details about the deal or indicate which assets of Cell C may be sold to Gatsby. The Commission said Gatsby SPV will be controlled by a trust that is yet to be formed.

South Africa mobile operator Cell C said on Wednesday it had finalised a recapitalisation plan, which has been sent to the Competition Commission for approval, Reuters reported. The country’s third-largest telecoms company, which is majority owned by Blue Label Telecoms, defaulted on a series of debt payments earlier this year having underperformed in a highly competitive market dominated by MTN and Vodacom.

Administrators in charge of South Africa’s Edcon believe there is a reasonable chance of saving the retailer after it filed for a form of bankruptcy protection in April, Reuters reported. Edcon, which owns department store chain Edgars and budget clothing retailer Jet, entered “business rescue” proceedings after losing an estimated 2 billion rand ($111 million) of sales since the coronavirus pandemic reached South Africa in March.

South Africa’s Comair has “reasonable prospects” of surviving, its administrators said on Tuesday after the airline sought a form of bankruptcy protection earlier this month, Reuters reported. Comair, which operates the local British Airways franchise and budget airline kulula.com, entered a “business rescue” after a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus forced South African airlines to halt all commercial passenger flights. State flag carrier South African Airways is under the same bankruptcy protection process, while smaller state airline SA Express has been pl

Months of concern over rising Covid-19 infection levels may be secondary for investors in coming days as market-moving events and policy decisions take center stage, Bloomberg News reported. China’s annual National People’s Congress starting Friday will likely keep volatility suppressed for developing-nation currencies, despite the prospect of another flareup in tensions between Beijing and Washington.

South African Airways (SAA) has spent just under 10 billion rand ($540 million) since it entered a form of bankruptcy protection, business rescue practitioners said on Friday as they flagged a structured wind-down process as their preferred option for the carrier, Reuters reported. The troubled state-owned airline, which has not made a profit since 2011 has been burning cash and is dependent on government bailouts to remain solvent. It entered business rescue in December in a last-ditch bid to save the company. “In terms of the amount of money that has been utilized...

Creditors of the biggest lender to South African farmers picked Rand Merchant Bank as financial adviser after it missed a loan repayment that triggered a cross-default in notes issued under a 50 billion-rand ($2.7-billion) bond program, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The Johannesburg-based investment bank has been entrusted with the task of drawing up cash-flow projections for the Land and Agricultural Development Bank, the people said, asking not to be identified as an announcement hasn’t been made.

Administrators at state-owned South African Airways (SAA) will not sell assets for an interim period without involving the government, a memorandum signed by one of the administrators and the public enterprises ministry showed, Reuters reported. The memorandum, which was seen by Reuters, also said the administrators and the ministry had agreed that the objective of SAA’s bankruptcy protection process was to have a restructured SAA or a new company with no reliance on public finances. A public enterprises ministry spokesman confirmed the memorandum was an authentic document.

South Africa’s fastest horses may not be racing, but a branch of the country’s richest family is pumping money into the industry so that when punters are allowed to return to the track, there will be horses to bet on, Bloomberg News reported. Phumelela Gaming & Leisure Ltd., the nation’s biggest horseracing company, will be receiving a 100 million-rand ($5.5 million) lifeline from Mary Oppenheimer Daughters Pty Ltd. after the racetrack owner filed for a local form of bankruptcy protection.

South Africa’s Phumelela Gaming and Leisure on Friday joined a slew of distressed firms to file for business rescue - a local form of bankruptcy protection - after a nationwide lockdown suspended activities in the horse racing industry, Reuters reported. Phumelela, of which former Steinhoff International CEO Markus Jooste was a director and among its largest shareholders, has not been able to stage race meetings since the end of March due to the lockdown. This has hurt its revenue from racing and betting, the company said in statement. “...