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SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) revealed on April 13 that it will defer interest payments on its perpetual capital securities, due April 24 and 26, saying this is part of its restructuring plan and ongoing Chapter 11 process. The announcement followed reports earlier in the week that claimed the company could be delisted from the stock exchange in the near future.
The carrier will postpone a total of about SEK272.7 million kronor (USD26.4 million) in semi-annual interest payments falling due on the two dates, which it said “is made in accordance with the terms and conditions for the respective capital securities.”
The sum consists of around SEK56.3 million (USD5.5 million) due on April 24 on its outstanding SEK1.62 billion (USD157 million) perpetual capital securities with the ISIN code SE0014957999, and around SEK216.4 million (USD21 million) due April 26 on its in aggregate outstanding SEK6 billion (USD582 million) subordinated perpetual capital securities with the ISIN codes SE0014958005 and SE0014958013.
Earlier this week, shares in SAS plummeted to new lows after media reports emerged claiming that it could be delisted from stock exchanges. It is mainly listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange but also appears on exchanges in Oslo and Copenhagen.
Specifically, the Danish newspaper Berlingske cited unnamed sources as saying that plans to take the company off the stock exchange are so advanced that it would be “very surprising” if it were still listed by the autumn. If delisted, the Swedish state – which like Denmark currently owns 21.8% of the company – would exit as a shareholder as it previously said it had no wish to reinvest.
Such an occurrence would leave SAS under the 70% ownership of US private equity fund Apollo, which lent it USD700 million last year, a debt that can be converted into shares. The Danish state would hold a 30% stake.
Asked to comment on the article, SAS said it had “initiated a process to raise capital” as part of its restructuring. Anna Sandell, head of media relations at SAS, told the Agence France-Presse: “We do not want to speculate on the outcome of the capital raising process and it is currently not possible to know whether the investors who ultimately invest in SAS prefer a listed or unlisted company.”
A delisting of the company could leave existing shareholders with worthless shares. SAS announced last week that it had triggered an attempt to raise equity financing but warned that it expected modest, little, or no recovery of debts for creditors and “nothing or very little of value left” for existing shareholders.
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