Brussels, 19/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 19 June, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation to verify whether a public support measure granted in 2012 by Sweden and Denmark to Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is in line with EU state aid rules.
SAS is the major air carrier in Scandinavia. Its four biggest shareholders are Sweden (21.4%), Denmark (14.3%), Norway (14.3%) and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation (KAW) (7.6%). SAS' financial position has been weak for several years and its financial performance has deteriorated significantly since 2008.
In 2012, SAS prepared a business plan with the aim of becoming profitable again. In this context, a revolving credit facility (RCF) granted in the past to SAS by a number of banks was replaced by a new RCF of SEK 3.5 billion (around €400 million). Half of the new RCF is provided by Sweden, Denmark and Norway in proportion to their shareholding and the remaining 50% by most of the banks that participated in the old RCF and KAW.
The Commission has doubts that the new RCF was carried out on market conditions, as the public shareholders on the one hand and the banks and KAW on the other hand were not in a comparable situation. In particular, while the public shareholders increased their investment to SAS through participation in the new RCF, the banks significantly reduced theirs given that they roughly halved their contribution to the new RCF when compared to the previous RCF, the Commission says. Furthermore, the Commission has concerns regarding the reliability of the business plan, on the basis of which the public shareholders decided to participate in the new RCF. It has therefore opened an inquiry into the participation of Sweden and Denmark in this measure.
The opening of an in-depth investigation gives interested third parties an opportunity to comment on the measures under assessment. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
In April 2012, SAS and the Swedish state-owned company Swedavia entered into a sale-and-lease-back transaction regarding real estate belonging to SAS. The Commission concluded that this transaction did not entail state aid. (LC/transl.fl)