SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) has reached agreement "with certain major holders" of its debt after revising the conversion terms for part of the rescue plan it is negotiating with the governments of Sweden and Denmark, its main shareholders, it said in a statement on August 7.
As previously reported, SAS admitted on July 10 that it had cancelled meetings on the proposed conversions of a bond and hybrid notes into shares, a key part of its planned SEK14.25 billion kronor (USD1.63 billion) recapitalisation plan, as not enough debt holders supported the terms.
Now, however, with the conversion terms revised, it has "reached an agreement in principle" with holders of 51% of the hybrid notes and 40% of the bondholders.
“Discussions are currently ongoing with the governments of Sweden and Denmark as regards the revised recapitalisation plan,” the airline said in a statement, adding that it would announce further information about the plan and a timetable for its implementation “as soon as possible.”
In the meantime, a note holders’ committee has strongly encouraged all debt holders to vote in favour of the proposals at an upcoming meeting, it elaborated.
The revised terms concern the conversion of SEK1.5 billion (USD171 million) worth of existing hybrid notes into common shares, and an option for holders of a SEK2.25 billion (USD257 million) bond due in November 2022 to convert their holdings either into new hybrid notes or into new shares, SAS said.
The terms also include a rise in the interest rate on SEK6 billion (USD686 million) of state hybrid notes that SAS will issue to the Swedish and Danish governments.
Also on August 7, SAS released its traffic figures for July, saying that demand remained "limited", with a "slow recovery" for domestic flights while demand for intercontinental and European travel remained weak. SAS capacity was down 76% on July 2019, total passenger numbers were down 75%.
