Omnicane Group has entered into an agreement with Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC) to sell all its shares in Mon Trésor Smart City Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary), as well as plot of lands in the Britannia and Mon Trésor areas. The total amount of the transaction amounts to Rs 4.5 billion. This is according to a statement issued by the group.
The decision was taken following the negative impact of the pandemic on Omnicane’s business operations. This prompted the group to implement a series of measures to deal with the volatile business environment. The sale of shares and land will enable Omnicane to strengthen its balance sheet to meet its financial obligations.
Due to its stock market obligations, the management of Omnicane, which was created as a result of the re-branding of Mon-Trésor-Mon-Désert Ltd, had already disclosed the transaction in a statement on the Mauritius Stock Exchange website on 31 March. It has been highlighted that the sudden emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on its current and future operations. In an unprecedented situation in the business world and the uncertainties of a possible recovery, the management has decided to resort to a series of measures to deal with the situations that a new and unstable business order will bring in the future.
With this covid crisis, the real estate sector in Mauritius is in general slowdown and potential buyers are still in uncertainty about what will happen tomorrow. Many are wondering about the possibility of a recession and therefore, they refrain from taking on real estate debt in the era of Covid 19, despite the new 2020-21 budget announced in early June by the government favouring the acquisition of real estate in Mauritius by Mauritians and foreigners.