Air France-KLM bid to takeover Scandinavian airline SAS

Air France-KLM wants to take over the Scandinavian airline SAS. The French-Dutch aviation combination already has a stake of almost 20 percent, but wants to increase that to 60.5 percent. The group seems to be aiming for the ability to better compete with rivals like Lufthansa and British Airways owner IAG.

Air France-KLM announced on Friday that it will start the necessary procedures to take over the interests of investors Castlelake and Lind Invest. This would make the company a majority shareholder. If the regulators agree, the group expects to be able to complete the deal in the second half of next year. SAS would then become a subsidiary of the group, a sister company of the Dutch KLM.

“We are excited by the prospect of fully welcoming SAS into the Air France-KLM family,” said Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM. SAS had a turnover of 4.1 billion euros last year and transported 25 million passengers.

The exact amount of money involved in the deal is not yet known. The amount will be determined based on SAS’s financial performance upon the completion of the deal, a statement said. The group also said that the Danish government will continue to hold over a quarter of SAS.

Air France-KLM acquired its first stake in SAS last year, after the coronavirus crisis weakened the national airline for Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The companies started with code-sharing cooperation and joint marketing. SAS also became part of the SkyTeam alliance. Air France-KLM made no secret of the fact that it wanted to increase its stake in SAS.