EVACO CRASHES: Mauritius luxury giant collapses under Rs 2.4bn SBM debt and Rs 2bn completion guarantee

Evaco Ltd, one of Mauritius’s leading luxury property developers, was placed under receivership in late May 2026 after creditors moved against it. State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) is exposed to roughly Rs 2.4–2.5 billion in direct loans, plus a further potential Rs 2 billion under a completion guarantee for the flagship Cap Marina project.

The appointment of joint receivers and managers Mushtaq Oosman and John Chung was announced on 28 May 2026. The Stock Exchange of Mauritius immediately halted, then suspended, trading in Evaco’s four classes of listed bonds. The group, founded in 2002 by Arnaud Mayer, had built a reputation on high-end PDS and IRS villas aimed at South African and European buyers. It claimed more than Rs 12 billion in sales over its lifetime. Cap Marina, a 22-hectare canal-front development at Cap-Malheureux with more than 320 luxury units and a reported potential sales value of Rs 15 billion, became the centre of the crisis. More than 70 per cent of units were sold off-plan, mostly to foreigners; around 200 buyers hold Garantie Financière d’Achèvement (GFA) protections.

The immediate trigger was a 25 May letter from Silver Bank demanding immediate repayment of Rs 39.7 million in overdue facilities. Silver Bank itself had already been placed under receivership by the Bank of Mauritius and had its licence revoked. Evaco owed it about Rs 268–276 million. SBM, the largest creditor, then also moved. SBM later described the decision as the result of a “rigorous evaluation process” after monitoring the file for a year, and said it acted to protect depositors given an exposure of about Rs 2.4 billion with some repayments stretching to 2030. It also holds the GFA obligation on Cap Marina, which could require it to fund completion if the developer cannot.

Group debt had already reached MUR 2.94 billion by June 2024 against a tangible net worth of MUR 628 million. Title-deed approval delays lengthened from one month to six months, disrupting cash flow from off-plan sales. Construction on Cap Marina slowed and then stalled in 2024. Evaco issued and refinanced bonds (Rs 650 million in 2019, further issues in 2024 and Rs 399 million in 2025) largely to roll earlier debt. Unaudited figures for the nine months to March 2026 showed revenue of MUR 216 million, operating losses and a net loss of about MUR 150 million. The Mauritius Investment Corporation, a central-bank-backed vehicle, had injected Rs 100 million in October 2024 specifically for a shopping mall within Cap Marina. That public money is now at risk.

About 350 staff were affected. Salaries for April 2026 (and in some cases May) went unpaid. Employees later protested at the Arsenal site and raised concerns with the Ministry of Labour about possible asset movements before receivership, including the transfer of shares in Evaco Restaurant Holding Ltd to Mayer and the creation of a new entity, Noémie Collection Ltd. The ministry has treated these as allegations requiring examination and has met the receivers. Subcontractors are also owed money. Foreign buyers with GFA protection have a legal route; Mauritian VEFA purchasers generally do not. SBM has said it is examining options for buyers but that it is “premature” to announce specific measures.

As of late August 2026, receivers were still assessing options to keep operations going and preserve jobs while protecting creditor interests. Questions persist about pre-administration transactions, the precise state of work-in-progress inventories (reported in the billions of rupees), and whether Cap Marina can be completed without further public or bank support. The episode has been described locally as a stress test for Mauritius’s off-plan luxury development model, which relies on presales, bond finance and timely regulatory approvals. Several other developers use similar structures.

Note:

Figures for exact remaining construction costs, the current status of individual units, and the final recovery rate for SBM, MIC and bondholders have not been published by the receivers. Those details remain subject to the ongoing administration process.

Sources (full URLs):

• https://www.propertycloud.mu/blog/evaco-ltd-the-fall-of-a-mauritian-real-estate-giant

• https://defimedia.info/la-sbm-bank-explique-la-mise-sous-administration-judiciaire-du-groupe-evaco

• https://www.scoop.mu/actualite/evaco-la-chute-de-la-maison-mayer/

• https://www.lemauricien.com/actualites/societe/immobilier-haut-de-gamme-evaco-geant-mauricien-de-limmobilier-de-luxe-pousse-en-receivership/708478/

• https://newsmoris.com/evaco-ltd-enters-into-administration-putting-rs-100-million-public-funds-at-risk/

• https://defimedia.info/evaco-sous-administration-judiciaire-la-mic-exposee-hauteur-de-rs-100-millions

• https://www.stockexchangeofmauritius.com/media/12525/28-05-2026-evaco-sem.pdf

• https://fr.allafrica.com/stories/202608180604.html

• https://fr.allafrica.com/stories/202607100423.html