Announcement • Apr 11
Regional Express Holdings Limited Announces Resignation of Ronald Bartsch Am as Non- Executive Director, Effective April 6, 2024 Regional Express Holdings Ltd. announced that Prof. Ronald Bartsch AM, a non- executive director of the company, has resigned from the Board effective 6 April 2024. Announcement • Oct 18
Prospective Rex Buyers Reportedly Prepare Bids for Landing The contest for the collapsed regional carrier Rex (Regional Express Holdings Limited (ASX:REX)) is getting down to the short strokes, with final bids due in the next couple of weeks. The Rex camp and lenders are said to be reasonably confident about a positive outcome, defying doubts in the market that the airline will find a buyer and may need a government bailout. Whether this involves a break-up of the airline or a sale in one line remains to be seen, but both are still live possibilities. Offering comfort to buyers is the government's guarantees to customers for flights or airfares back while the airline remains in administration. As previously reported, the part of the business most appealing to suitors is the NSW and Victoria air ambulance services provider Pel-Air, which has Westpac as a lender of $170 million and was the part of Rex that did not fall into receivership. Lender PAG, owed $130 million, is believed to keep changing its mind on the opportunity, initially planning to takeover the carrier before cooling on the idea. A challenge for the Asian private equity group is that it does not have the aviation expertise like other global buyout funds such as Bain Capital, LP, which had airline expertise before buying the previously listed Virgin Australia out of voluntary administration in 2020 for $700 million in equity and taking on $5.15 billion of debt. Virgin Australia, now 25% owned by Middle Eastern carrier Qatar Airways, is not focused on buying Rex, while private equity firms such as Platinum Equity and Anchorage Capital Partners are now thought to see better turnaround opportunities elsewhere. Allegro Funds, meanwhile, is preoccupied with Scyne, the government advisory spin-off it inherited from PwC. The final bid date has been extended to enable suitors plenty of time to run the ruler over the operation in the sale process run by Houlihan Lokey. DataRoom previously reported that Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and BGH Capital had all previously been in the Rex data room assessing an acquisition. Yet, parties previously shaping up as the most likely acquirers were Asia funds. Oaktree Capital Management may still be showing some interest, given it has experience in the industry, while TPG Capital and Blackstone both own airlines, although the opportunity may be too small for such large global funds. CVC Capital Partners and Cerberus have also owned aircraft leasing businesses, while private equity firm Indigo Partners was around Virgin Australia when it collapsed. Announcement • Aug 26
EY Given More Time to Sell Rex The administrators of Regional Express Holdings Limited (ASX:REX) have been given more time to try to find a buyer for the embattled airline. EY was appointed as voluntary administrator on July 30 after Rex buckled under the weight of about $500 million in debt. An extension of the administration to November 25 was granted by the Federal Court, although barrister Daniel Krochmalik for EY said the "obvious motivation" of the administrators was that if the process could be done sooner, it would be. It is understood EY was hopeful of finding a buyer for Rex through a deed of company arrangement that would provide a return for about 4,800 creditors, in particular employees. Mr. Krochmalik told the court that employees out of pocket as a result of the administration were not likely to be paid sooner if the airline was "wound up" as opposed to being sold through a deed of company arrangement (DOCA). "There's no reason to think a liquidation scenario will provide employees with access to payment more quickly than a DOCA," he said. He revealed EY was seeking to sell Rex in its entirety rather than in parts, due to the fact the law required all of the relevant entities in external administration to be liable for the debt of each other. "It's not guaranteed but overwhelmingly likely that any DOCA will be one that captures all of the company," he told judge Elizabeth Cheeseman, who interjected: "If there's some left in liquidation … those debts will come back to bite them." It is understood that it is now up to EY to make a request to federal Transport Minister Catherine King to extend the government guarantee for Rex's regional services. 
