(BFM Stock Exchange) – The Franco -Dutch Air Group said Friday, July 4, start a process aimed at being the majority shareholder in the Scandinavian SAS company, in which he has already taken a minority stake last year. Air France-KLM also intends to weigh in the race for consolidating the sector in Europe.
Air France-KLM is heading even more in northern Europe. The Franco-Dutch Airline company, which to date has just under 20% of the capital of Scandinavian SAS, intends to weigh much more in the table of its trading partner.
Air France-KLM said this Friday, July 4, start a process aimed at bringing its participation to 60.5% of SAS capital and therefore becoming the majority shareholder. To do this, he will acquire all of the shares held by Castlelake and Lind Invest.
“The acquisition of this majority participation would allow Air France-KLM to take control of SAS, which would then become a subsidiary of the group,” explains the Franco-Dutch airline. She adds that the Danish state would retain its participation of 26.4 % as well as its seats on the SAS board of directors, when Air France-KLM would hold the majority of these same seats.
He aims to complete this operation in the second half of 2026, the latter being conditional on obtaining the required regulatory authorizations. “This new step would allow Air France-KLM and SAS to fully exploit their potential for synergies thanks to integration into all of the fields of activity, including loyalty programs, and beyond the only commercial functions”, has also detailed the company.
If Air France-KLM’s wish to strengthen itself in SAS is clear, the price it will have to pay to carry out this operation remains to be determined. The value of the investment envisaged by Air France-KLM will depend on the latest financial performance of SAS. The Franco-Dutch airline will be based on the EBITDA (gross operating result) and SAS net debt at the time of the finalization of the operation.
Cited by Reuters, JPMorgan analysts displayed their optimism on this agreement. “SAS offers deeper access to a region rich in GDP in Scandinavia, there will now be an opportunity to generate cost synergies since SAS becomes a subsidiary of the group,” they explain in a note.
A logical initiative
This initiative is after all logical insofar as the contract signed between the two companies last year included the possibility for Air-France KLM to increase its participation so as to become a control shareholder after a minimum of two years and under certain conditions.
It must be said that SAS presents a face radically different from a few years ago. From a company that had placed itself in July 2022 under the protection of the US bankruptcy law, SAS now displays excellent performance at the cost of a spectacular recovery.
“SAS displays excellent performance following its successful restructuring, and we are convinced that its potential will continue to grow thanks to further integration within the group,” said Benjamin Smith, the general manager of Air France-KLM. Just like Air France-KLM whose action was deemed “not investable” by several analysts.
A market consolidation in Europe
This decision also confirms what Benjamin Smith, the director general of Air France-KLM, told Reuters last March. He told the financial news agency that the company was planning to increase its participation in SAS, if the carrier crossed the necessary steps, in particular integration into the Skyteam air alliance, of which Air France-KLM is also a member.
The Air France-KLM pilot has also said and repeated several times that his business will play an active role in the consolidation of the market in Europe, and play high dragee in its rivals IAG, the British Airways parent company, and the German Lufthansa. To grow even more, the Franco-British air group is still eyeing the Portuguese company TAP, whose privatization was launched in September 2023 by Lisbon. Benjamin Smith underlined in the past the complementarity of the Network of the Portuguese Company in South America with that of Air France-KLM.
“The consolidation of the industry should also be considered positive for the entire sector, even if it does not change the situation in terms of size,” adds JPMorgan.
On the operational front, the air transport group confirmed its objectives for the current year after having identified results overall higher than the consensus in the first quarter.
Air France-KLM has, in 2025, to increase its capacities (that is to say its number of flights) in 5% to 5% to 5% and limit the increase in its unit costs to “low figure” compared to last year. The company also intends to keep a net debt ratio reported to the EBITDA between 1.5 and 2.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, the latest Air France-KLM announcements leave the marble market in any case. The title of the airline is slightly decreased by 0.20% to 9.87 euros, this Friday, July 4 around 10:30 am.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2025 BFM Bourse
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