Harith secures competition approval for FlySafair purchase

South African investment firm looking to finalise acquisition first announced in February.
South Africa’s Competition Tribunal has conditionally cleared Johannesburg-based investment fund Harith’s acquisition of FlySafair.

The deal, first announced in February this year, comes amid a long-running row around foreign ownership of FlySafair. That relates to a 2024 ruling by South Africa’s Air Services Licensing Council which found that Irish-based ASL Aviation Holdings held a 75% stake in the business, including through a South African-registered trust.

While the transaction results in the airline being owned by South African investors, FlySafair at the time said the deal was not initiated in response to the ownership ruling, which was subject to ongoing legal review.

No financial terms or details of the transaction have been disclosed.

The deal marks Harith’s first airline investment, having previously been part of the Takatso consortium originally picked in 2021 to acquire a majority stake in flag-carrier South African Airways. That deal failed to come to fruition.

Harith has a number of transport and infrastructure investments across Africa, including a stake in Johannesburg’s Lanseria airport, at which FlySafair is an operator.

In July South Africa’s Competition Commission had recommended the Tribunal approve the acquisition, after Harith and FlySafair made commitments on information exchange and ensuring services at Lanseria to other airlines are not provided based on “unfair, unreasonable or discriminatory” terms.

The country’s Competition Tribunal has now approved the acquisition in a 27 October ruling in line with these conditions.

FlySafair operates a network of South African domestic flights, together with regional connections to Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe, using a fleet of Boeing 737-800s. The carrier is set to take its first 737 Max jets in 2028 under an agreement with lessor AerCap.

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