Apollo seeking to join airline SAS investor consortium -source

Sas AB

13/10/2023 22:34

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
       COPENHAGEN, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm
Apollo Global Management  APO.N  is seeking to join the
consortium that Scandinavian airline SAS  SAS.ST  last week
picked to take it through bankruptcy proceedings, according to a
source familiar with the matter.
    Long-struggling SAS, ravaged by the pandemic and pressured
by low-cost rivals, sought bankruptcy protection last year.
    SAS announced last week that Air France-KLM  AIRF.PA  and
U.S. investment firm Castlelake would become new major
shareholders alongside the Danish state. 
    Apollo, which last year granted SAS a $700 million
debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan to fund its restructuring, had
been seen as a likely winner in the bidding round by the airline
to raise equity as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.
    Apollo could convert the loan into equity at the end of the
process.
    "Apollo is still an active bidder," the source said, adding
that the U.S. company was seeking to inject additional cash into
SAS on top of what the winning consortium said it would invest.
    It was unclear how big a stake Apollo would seek or how much
it would invest.
    Total investments by new shareholders, which also include
Danish investment firm Lind Invest, in the reorganized SAS would
amount to 12.9 billion Swedish crowns ($1.18 billion).
    SAS, Castlelake, Air France-KLM and Apollo all declined to
comment. The Danish finance ministry did not immediately reply
to a request for comment.

($1 = 10.9555 Swedish crowns)

 (Additional reporting by Tim Hepher and Greg Roumeliotis;
Editing by Josie Kao)
 ((jacob.pedersen@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @JacobGronholt;))