(.)
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – SAS announced on Tuesday that Air France-KLM and the investment funds Castlelake and Lind Invest would become the main shareholders of the Scandinavian airline, alongside the Danish state, as part of the process of funding request launched by SAS.
SAS said the total of these three investments would amount to 12.9 billion Swedish crowns (1.1 billion euros).
According to a press release from Air France-KLM, the investment by the Franco-Dutch airline group would represent a total of 144.5 million dollars (138 million euros).
“This is an important realization of our transformation plan,” Carsten Dilling, President of SAS, said in a statement.
“We have conducted an extensive competitive bidding and thorough evaluation process, and we are confident that the successful bid is the most favorable for SAS, its creditors and other stakeholders,” he said. added.
“SAS presents considerable potential for Air France-KLM. This cooperation would allow Air France-KLM to strengthen its presence in the Nordic countries,” said Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM in the group press release.
Air France-KLM specified that it would take a minority stake of a maximum of 19.9% of the share capital of SAS AB, subject to certain conditions and obtaining the necessary regulatory authorizations.
SAS filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection last year, after struggling for years with high costs and falling travel demand linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reporting Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Louise Rasmussen, French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters