Comair business plan pushed back as rescuers work to firm up offers

South African carrier Comair’s rescue practitioners have disclosed that a potential deal with an interested consortium has fallen through, but are pushing back publication of a business plan to provide time to consider other approaches. Publication of the business plan had been due on 28 July after an expression of interest was received from a consortium on 21 June. But the interest has not translated into a binding offer because, the practitioners state, it ran into approval problems with a funding committee. “[The offer] therefore could not be taken forward,” they add. “[We] understand, to date, that this has not changed.” But the practitioners point out that two other consortia have each signed non-binding offers, both of which contain “several material conditions” which must be satisfied before being made binding. “At this time, the ability for [Comair] and the practitioners to fulfil the conditions in these offers, and the willingness of the company’s financiers to participate with the [consortia], remain unknown,” they add. Understanding whether the parties will be able to meet the necessary conditions – and whether either offer would be able to resolve the airline’s financial distress – will take time to evaluate.<br/>