Scandinavian carrier SAS’s parent company, SAS AB, has formally filed for re-organisation in Sweden, a measure previously indicated during SAS’s proceedings under US Chapter 11 protection.
Successful completion of this re-organisation is a condition for the airline’s Chapter 11 plan, which recently secured US bankruptcy court approval.
The company requires clearance from the Stockholm district court to open the re-organisation proceedings.
Known as ‘foretagsrekonstruktion’, the Swedish process is an option for viable businesses experiencing short-term financial problems.
If the application is accepted the court appoints a reconstructor, to draw up a re-organisation plan, and determines timelines for creditors’ meetings.
According to the Swedish court service Sveriges Domstolar a re-organisation is typically conducted over three months, with an option to extend for three months at a time.
Only SAS AB is covered by the re-organisation application. Neither the airline nor any other subsidiaries are part of it.
“SAS’s operations and flight schedule will remain unaffected by the re-organisation proceeding,” says the carrier. “SAS will continue to serve its customers in the ordinary course throughout this process.”
While SAS is still expecting to emerge from its Chapter 11 restructuring around the end of the first half of this year, it stresses that the effectiveness of the Chapter 11 plan remains subject to various conditions and regulatory approvals.
It has previously stated that SAS AB’s common shares will be cancelled and delisted, with no value for current shareholders of the company and only a modest recovery for hybrid bondholders.
SAS AB had around 218,000 shareholders at the end of the last financial year in October 2023. The parent company had full-year revenues of SKr872 million ($82 million) and generated a net loss of SKr1.56 billion.
