Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris, who was until recently the main shareholder of the FTI group and lost 260 million euros in the bankruptcy, assured the Swiss daily NZZ this week that the liabilities that fall on companies such as the Canary Islands-based Meeting Point are very limited and that the voluntary bankruptcy declared on Monday, June 3, 2024 before the Munich District Court. Also affected were FTI's Swiss subsidiaries, FTI Touristik AG and Bigxtra Touristik AG, which filed for bankruptcy on June 26, 2024.
Sawiris initially joined FTI in 2014 with a 33 percent stake. His goal was to attract tourists from Europe to his resorts in Egypt or Oman via the FTI Group. After that step he opted to grow in markets such as the south of Gran Canaria. Like all other tourism companies, the FTI Group was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Sawiris came to the aid of FTI: in 2020 he raised capital and increased his stake to around 75 percent.
According to Sawiris, the German state also provided loans and loan guarantees totalling around 875 million euros. FTI's current business then picked up with the emerging travel boom after the pandemic ended. But Covid-19 loans continued to weigh heavily on the company. In an interview with the NZZ newspaper in October 2024, Sawiris explained the reasons that he believes led to FTI's bankruptcy. According to the Egyptian investor, the company was already in crisis before the coronavirus. At that time, however, he was only a minority shareholder and his advice was not listened to, says Sawiris.
In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, it invested even more money so that it would not have to lay off 16.000 employees, Sawiris said in the interview with the Swiss media outlet. But the debt continued to grow during the pandemic. Investors were sought and the investment company Certares officially announced in mid-April that a consortium of investors led by it would take over FTI for one euro and invest 125 million euros in capital. Despite the announcement by the consortium of investors, the booking figures were far below expectations. According to Sawiris, the German state was unable to act quickly enough. During this time, competitors have the opportunity to shake confidence in FTI, Sawiris said in the interview. "If customers and suppliers lose confidence, things can happen quickly, similar to a banking crisis."
The fact is that customers increasingly insisted on advance payments, which led to increased liquidity needs. In the end, this could no longer be overcome and FTI had to file for bankruptcy. According to its own statements, Sawiris lost around 260 million euros out of its own pocket, including interest.
