Denmark willing to help SAS if private investors get on board

By Stine Jacobsen

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Denmark is willing to write off debt owed by loss-making airline SAS and inject more capital if private investors chip in as well, Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen said on Friday.

The airline’s share price surged as much as 45% as investors welcomed some positive news for the carrier, which is struggling to cut costs while also seeking to prevent a major strike among its pilots.

“We imagine to have an ownership share somewhere between 22% and up to 30%,” Wammen told reporters after meeting with members of parliament. The state currently owns 21.8% of SAS.

“There is a commitment from a large and broad majority in parliament that we continue to take responsibility and we want to contribute to a solution, but now all other parties must do theirs as well,” he said.

Lawmakers had agreed to accept writedowns and the conversion of debt while injecting new equity depending on private investors also taking part, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

“If SAS does not succeed in convincing the markets that they have a viable and profitable future, then no money will come from either the market or from the Danish state,” Rasmus Jarlov of the Conservative Party said.

NOT EASY

Government support is also dependent on maintaining influence over a range of decisions to ensure SAS keeps a strong presence at Danish airports, for example, which is important for both the Danish economy and ensuring good travel connections to the rest of the world, Wammen said.

SAS was not immediately available for comment.

Copenhagen Airport is the airline’s largest hub and is strategically and economically important to Denmark.

The state’s demand for influence was likely to scare off many investors, Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said.

“I absolutely do not think this makes it easier to save SAS. Big consortiums which might otherwise have wanted to come in and make changes to SAS will run away screaming,” he said.

SAS is restructuring its business by cutting costs, raising new cash and converting debt to equity as part of a plan to rescue the carrier from collapse.

The Swedish government, which also has a 21.8% stake in SAS, took a much harder stance on Tuesday, saying it would not inject more cash.

Adding to the trouble at SAS, some 1,000 pilots in Denmark, Norway and Sweden warned on Thursday they could go on strike from late June over disagreements on wages and ways to cut costs.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen, additional reporting by Helena Soderpalm in Stockholm, editing by Terje Solsvik, Louise Heavens and Susan Fenton)