In a circular published by the Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs), the group confirmed that the investor, established as Ubuntu Air for the transaction, no longer wanted to proceed with the process.
Mango was placed in voluntary business rescue on 28 July 2021, and the business rescue practitioners were appointed in August of that year.
The airline has faced an uphill battle to get back on its feet. The business rescue process has been frustrated by dealings with the government, and resultant uncertainties have made it difficult to pin down an investor.
Mango is a wholly owned subsidiary of South African Airways (SAA), and when it entered business rescue it did so with SAA as its sole shareholder.
However, SAA had been facing its own financial issues and potential buyout at the time, and did not provide any further financial support to the group or the state.
Mango’s business rescue, therefore, relied on the airline finding financing from a third-party investor.
“Regrettably, on 31 July 2025, the Investor reverted that it had second thoughts about the transaction and would not be proceeding,” the BRPs said.
“Part of the reason was that the delays have made scheduling of a resumption of operations unrealistic and the commitment of the other funding partner could not be secured.”
Under the business rescue plan, Ubuntu Air would have acquired the remaining shares owned by South African Airways (SAA) making Mango a privately-owned airline.
It would have then recapitalised the business and injected enough capital to operationalise the airline.
However, the BRPs tussled with the now-defunct Department of Public Enterprises over the deal, and more recently, hit legal headwinds with creditors who felt they were being iced out of their rights to claim proceeds from the rescue plan.
Specifically, the business rescue plan required that the airline’s creditors take a massive haircut on the debt owed to them, accept a non-guaranteed ‘top up’ after the sale, and then cede all their rights to claim later.
This aspect was challenged in court, and, in July, the rescue plan was again halted.
According to the BRPs at the time, the investor was willing to wait out the legal proceedings. In the circular, the investor stressed that it could only wait for a maximum of three months.
However, this was cut short, with the investor pulling out just weeks later.
