Air France-KLM has the ambition to become the new majority owner of SAS. Negotiations are currently underway to increase ownership to over 50 percent, reports the Danish Børsen.
In October, the French-based airline announced that it could become a controlling owner of SAS. within two years.
”"We are very, very happy with how it ended with SAS and our exclusive opportunity to move up to a majority stake later. We are already in deep negotiations," Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith said, according to Børsen, at an investor meeting in connection with the company's report last week.
It was almost five months ago that the consortium, which included Air France-KLM with 19 percent, the investment company Castlelake, the Danish state and financier Henrik Lind, with ownership stakes of 32, 25.8 and 8.6 percent in SAS, respectively, announced that they would invest approximately SEK 13 billion in SAS and save the company.
According to Norwegian aviation expert Hans Jørgen Elnæs, it is probably Castlelake's 32 percent share that Air France-KLM is looking to buy to get over 50 percent, writes Børsen.
SAS is under reconstruction and will be delisted from the stock exchange during the second quarter.
SAS will release its report for its first quarter of the broken fiscal year on Thursday.
Source: Nyhetsbyrån Direkt
