A debt restructuring in SAS could lead to the Norwegian state returning as owner of the airline, as the Ministry of Industry and Trade is now considering participating in a rescue, writes the Norwegian Dagens Næringsliv.
ABG Sundal Collier is said to have been consulted as an advisor by Minister of Industry, Trade and Industry Jan Christian Vestre.
It has been four years since the Norwegian right-wing government exited SAS by selling its remaining 10 percent stake in the airline for 600 million Norwegian kroner. But after management described a dire situation for the company in its interim report on Tuesday, a re-entry for the Norwegian state is now being considered, writes Dagens Næringsliv.
SAS management wrote in the interim report that SEK 9.5 billion in new equity is needed, which will be done after a debt item of SEK 20 billion is converted. The creditors will be allocated shares in exchange for the debt being written down and converted to equity.
One of these The creditor is the Norwegian state. During the pandemic, 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner in loans were allocated to SAS through a guarantee scheme.
However, tough negotiations are expected in the future for the government and SAS, according to Dagens Næringsliv.
”"It is known that SAS is in a difficult situation and the Norwegian state is already an indirect lender to SAS through the company's use of the loan guarantee issued to aviation," the Ministry of Enterprise and Industry's communications department wrote to the newspaper.
In the spring of 2020, the authorities established a loan package for the aviation sector worth 6 billion Norwegian kroner, as part of a government corona support initiative. SAS competitor Norwegian Air was awarded 3 billion Norwegian kroner in loans while SAS received 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner. This can now be transformed into the Norwegian state's ticket into the ownership book, regardless of whether the government wants to be a long-term owner or not.
”"The state has had the company's plans and scenario analyses presented to it. It is too early to say how the state will respond to different solutions. Since SAS is listed on the stock exchange, we cannot comment on the process or possible solutions, that is for the company to do," State Secretary Halvard Ingebrigtsen told the newspaper.
