Weil is proud to have represented Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), a publicly traded airline based in Sweden, through its successful restructuring proceedings and subsequent emergence from chapter 11, enabling SAS to close on an investment of $1.2 billion in exit financing. With Weil’s assistance, together with the company’s other legal and financial advisors, SAS emerged as a more competitive and financially robust airline with a strengthened capital structure, a highly dedicated and experienced management team, a commitment to drive transformational change and sustainability in aviation, and an attractive new customer offering with the global airline alliance, SkyTeam.
Weil guided SAS through its restructuring proceedings to accelerate the implementation of the airline’s comprehensive business and financial transformation plan, SAS FORWARD. The aim of SAS FORWARD is to achieve a full transformation of the business, including by optimizing the SAS network and fleet, achieving unit cost competitiveness, and building a sustainable future. Over the course of the restructuring proceedings, SAS successfully restructured more than $2 billion of debt, adjusted its aircraft fleet and related costs, and reached agreements with key stakeholders, creditors, and vendors. SAS also successfully concluded a competitive exit financing solicitation process, selecting Castlelake L.P., Air France-KLM S.A., Lind Invest ApS, and the Danish State as the winning bidder consortium. The exit financing transaction included a total investment in reorganized SAS of $1.2 billion, consisting of $475 million in new unlisted equity and $725 million in secured convertible debt. This comprehensive restructuring transaction was effectuated pursuant to a confirmed chapter 11 plan of reorganization in the U.S., followed by a Swedish company reorganization proceeding to implement the plan at the company’s ultimate parent company – SAS AB.
The Weil team was led by Gary T. Holtzer, Co-Chair of Weil’s Restructuring Department, together with US Restructuring Partners Kelly DiBlasi, David Griffiths, and Lauren Tauro, European Restructuring Partner and Co-Head of London Restructuring Andrew Wilkinson, European Restructuring Partner Matt Benson, Mergers & Acquisitions Partners Gavin Westerman and Mariel Cruz, Banking & Finance Partner Justin D. Lee, and European Banking & Finance, Capital Markets Partner Andrew Hagan, among others.