IMAP is pleased to announce that SATA Air Azores, a Portuguese regional airline group, has closed a €132 million emergency liquidity support (ELS) facility to deal with the short-term impact of COVID-19 on its day-to-day operations.
The ELS facility, which is comprised of multiple debt instruments, was unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by the Autonomous Region of Azores and underwritten by multiple international banks.
The debt raise process consisted of an international market consultation to avoid breaching the sector/debtor concentration limits of Portuguese domestic financing institutions.
In addition to managing the debt raise process, IMAP Portugal provided close support to SATA in its discussions with the Portuguese Government and the European Commission, to ensure that the ELS facility was permissible under the TFEU’s provisions on state aid.
The IMAP Portugal team, led by Gonçalo Vaz Botelho, acted as exclusive financial advisor to SATA.