SAS AB ("SAS" or the "Company") announces that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
Southern District of New York (the "Court") has approved SAS' equity
solicitation procedures. Through these procedures, SAS will run a competitive
and broad solicitation process to secure the best available terms and conditions
for new equity capital.
On April 6, 2023, SAS announced that the Company had taken the next step in its
comprehensive business transformation plan SAS FORWARD, initiating a process to
solicit equity investment in a reorganized SAS. Today, the Court has approved
the procedures that will govern the Company's equity solicitation process. The
deadline for potential investors to present final bids takes place in
approximately 13 weeks.
Anko van der Werff, President and Chief Executive Officer of SAS, says:
"The equity raise process is the key next step in SAS FORWARD, our
transformation plan that aims to improve our financial strength, secure long
-term competitiveness and fortify our position as Scandinavia's leading
airline. We will conduct a competitive and broad solicitation process to secure
equity capital that will help drive our airline forward and facilitate our
emergence from the chapter 11 process."
Additional Information About the Chapter 11 Process and implementation of SAS
FORWARD
On July 5, 2022, to accelerate the implementation of its comprehensive business
transformation plan SAS FORWARD, SAS announced that it had voluntarily filed for
chapter 11 in the U.S., a well-established and flexible legal framework for
restructuring businesses with operations in multiple jurisdictions. Through this
process, SAS aims to reach agreements with key stakeholders, restructure the
Company's debt obligations, reconfigure its aircraft fleet, and emerge with a
significant capital injection.
At the outset of its restructuring process, the Company's SAS FORWARD plan
envisioned raising at least SEK 9.5 billion in new equity capital as well as
reducing or converting SEK 20 billion of debt (of which a majority is on-balance
sheet debt), including state hybrid notes, commercial hybrid notes, Swiss bonds,
term loans from states, aircraft lease liabilities and maintenance contract
obligations and other executory contract obligations. The final amount of equity
financing raised will depend upon the competitive equity raise process along
with the Company's ongoing ability to generate additional liquidity.
SAS targets to complete its court-supervised process in the U.S. in the latter
part of the second half of 2023.
Additional information about the Company's voluntary chapter 11 process is
available on the Company's dedicated restructuring
website, https://sasgroup.net/transformation. Court filings and other documents
related to the chapter 11 process in the U.S. are available on a separate
website administered by SAS' claims agent, Kroll Restructuring Administration
LLC, at https://cases.ra.kroll.com/SAS. Information is also available by calling
(844) 242-7491 (U.S./Canada) or +1 (347) 338-6450 (International), as well as by
email at SASInfo@ra.kroll.com.
Advisors
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving as global legal counsel and Mannheimer
Swartling Advokatbyrå AB is serving as Swedish legal counsel to SAS. Seabury
Securities LLC and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB are serving as investment
bankers, Seabury is also serving as restructuring advisor, and FTI Consulting is
serving as financial advisor to SAS.
For further information, please contact:
SAS Press office, +46 8 797 29 44
Investor Relations, +46 70 997 7070
SAS, Scandinavia's leading airline, with main hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and
Stockholm, is flying to destinations in Europe, USA and Asia. Spurred by a
Scandinavian heritage and sustainable values, SAS aims to be the global leader
in sustainable aviation. We will reduce total carbon emissions by 25 percent by
2025, by using more sustainable aviation fuel and our modern fleet with fuel
-efficient aircraft. In addition to flight operations, SAS offers ground
handling services, technical maintenance and air cargo services. SAS is a
founder member of the Star AllianceT, and together with its partner airlines
offers a wide network worldwide. Learn more at https://www.sasgroup.net.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The press release does not constitute an offer to sell or issue, or the
solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire, or subscribe for, shares or any
other financial instruments in SAS.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect SAS' current
view of future events as well as financial and operational development. These
statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed
by or including words such as "intend", "assess", "expect", "may", "plan",
"estimate" and other expressions involving indications or predictions regarding
future development or trends and other words and terms of similar meaning or the
negative thereof. These forward-looking statements have been prepared for
illustrative purposes only, are not based on historical facts, are not
guarantees of future performance, reflect SAS' beliefs and expectations, and are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and other
factors that could cause actual events and performance to differ materially from
any expected future events or performance expressed or implied by such forward
-looking statements. As a result of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and
other factors, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements as a prediction of actual future events or otherwise. The information
contained in this press release is subject to change without notice and, except
as required by applicable law, SAS does not assume any responsibility or
obligation to update publicly or review any of the forward-looking statements
contained in it, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. Nothing in this press release constitutes or should be construed as
constituting a profit forecast.