This comes after SAS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S last year.
The court's approval of this capital raising initiative, a critical component of the "SAS Forward" rescue plan, sets the stage for potential investors to start bidding for ownership stakes in the airline.
An SAS spokesperson explained that the new strategy addressed previous court reservations in April regarding a stipulation for bidders to agree to Denmark's involvement in the equity raise. She clarified, "That formal requirement has been removed. But we are clearly stating that the Danish state's support is essential to succeed with SAS Forward and to emerge from the Chapter 11 process."
She went on to say that this consideration would be factored into the assessment of other bids, emphasizing, "SAS' intention remains clear that we are doing this together with Denmark."
The revised SAS plan highlighted that without Denmark's support, the airline's exit from Chapter 11 "will face significant uncertainty, cost, and delay."
SAS confirmed, "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."
The Danish government has signaled its willingness to increase its stake from around 22% to roughly 30%, contingent upon other investors assuming a majority stake.
SAS revealed that the bidding deadline would be approximately 13 weeks from now. The airline now intends to finalize the Chapter 11 process "in the latter part of the second half of 2023," an extension from its original 9-12 month timeframe projected in July 2022.
