Mach Waives Financing Condition for its Acquisition of Transat

Provided by Group Mach Inc./CNW

MONTREAL, June 25, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ – Group Mach Inc. (“Mach”) is pleased to announce its non-binding agreement with the Government of Quebec in connection with Mach’s formal proposal to acquire all issued and outstanding voting shares (the “Shares”) of Transat A.T. Inc. (TSX: TRZ) (“Transat” or the “Company”) at a price of $14.00 cash per Share to the attention of the Board of Directors of Transat as announced in Mach’s press release of June 14, 2019 (the “Proposal”). As such, Mach has deposited today an amended version of its Proposal with the Board of Directors of Transat by, in particular, removing conditions related to financing from the Government of Quebec and the execution of support and voting agreements with the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (the “Amended Proposal”). Such Amended Proposal only contains the following conditions:

  • Transat terminating its current process with Air Canada prior to entering into any definitive acquisition agreement with Air Canada;
  • The execution of a confidentiality agreement between Transat and Mach which includes a period of 30 days to complete due diligence and execute a definitive acquisition agreement between Mach and Transat during said period; and
  • The receipt of customary regulatory approvals, namely the review of the Amended Proposal by federal competition and transportation authorities (the “Key Regulatory Approvals”).

Of note in regards to Key Regulatory Approvals, Mach, TM Grupo Inmobiliario (“TM”) and their subsidiaries do not carry on any activities in Canada in any of the segments of current activities of Transat. In particular, neither Mach nor TM or any of their subsidiaries operate an airline anywhere in the world. Mach shall preserve all existing operational activities of Transat post-closing of our proposed acquisition of Transat.

Considering the confidential nature of the above-mentioned agreement between Mach and the Government of Quebec, Mach will not comment any further in this regard. For greater certainty, the Amended Proposal is not contingent in any respect upon such agreement.

We look forward to the Board of Directors of Transat working with us to solidify the long-term profitability of the Company as a strong and independent global leading vertically integrated leisure travel brand under the banner of Transat, thus successfully carrying out the Company’s strategic plan of 2018-2022 and preserving the legacy of its founders.