The first important point to remember from the SEMATRA Board of Directors is that the loan of 6 million euros allocated by the Caisse des dépôts et de consignation (CDC) was validated both during this meeting and during of the permanent commission of the regional authority. A lifeline for Air Austral which will not experience a cash stalemate until mid/late May 2022.
Secondly, and concerning the hypothesis of a capital merger between Air Austral and Corsair under the aegis of the CIRI (Interministerial Council for Industrial Restructuring), offers from several external investment funds have been made for the takeover of the companies Corsair and Air Southern. For the time being, all the options are being debated and discussed by the regional authority, which refuses to exclude one scenario more than another.
Thirdly, and this is probably the most important data that emerges from the board of directors of SEMATRA, is that a pool of investors from Reunion appears for the first time, according to the wishes of the President of the Region, Huguette Bello , even if no name leaked during the CA of SEMATRA.
As a reminder, the President of the Region had appealed to the economic patriotism of the local economic world last November to defend both the company’s local jobs, with the maintenance for example of a local decision-making centre, and its Reunionese identity.
A call that has apparently been heard. According to our information, this group of local investors would be ready to invest “massively” in the capital restructuring of Air Austral.
In any case, the choice between these two hypotheses (capital merger with Corsair or takeover by Reunionese investors) will have to be decided before the end of June to respect the schedule of the Air Austral rescue plan.
It now remains for the Region to continue the technical analysis of the offers submitted.
