SAS has said that its main owners have approved a revised rescue plan after it made changes to a key part of the deal earlier this month to appease holders of its debt.
In June, the airline agreed a 14 billion Swedish crown ($1.6 billion) plan with top shareholders including Sweden and Denmark to shore up its finances amid the coronavirus-related collapse in air travel.
But this month it was forced to revise terms of a proposed debt to equity swap in an attempt to secure the agreement of enough debtholders, which was a condition of unlocking cash injections from Sweden and Denmark.
Terms were tweaked for the conversion of 1.5 billion crowns ($172 million) of hybrid notes into common shares, and an option was introduced for holders of a 2.25 billion crown bond to accept either new commercial hybrid notes or shares.
SAS said that the revised plan is also supported by its third largest shareholder, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
It added that holders of 53% of the hybrid notes and 42% of the bonds now support the plan, which still has to be approved at noteholder meetings scheduled for September 2.
Chairman And Spokesperson Statements
"The future of SAS depends on a successful outcome of the revised recapitalisation plan, as well as delivery on four billion crowns in efficiency improvements," SAS chairman Carsten Dilling said. "The board strongly encourages bond, hybrid and share holders to vote in favour of the proposals...as there are no other available alternatives."
An SAS spokesperson said the company has made no changes to the plan that was announced on August 7, which also requires approval at a shareholder meeting scheduled for around September 22.
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