SAS management have sold the company out under the shareholders for next to nothing, or even less

SAS went out to 200 potential investors and all but a small handfull turned them down. They where eventually grouped into 2 constellations and the one chosen consisted of one airline with no money and pretty much no profit plus a couple of financiers offering loans on bad terms. 

One day it could come out that the only ones ponying up actual cash for refinancing SAS is the danish state, that was investing no matter who else was in the buying group. That percentage of the upfront cash should leave the danes feeling very shortchanged when it comes to what they get in percentage of ownership.

The problems with the consortium chosen came to the surface pretty much on day 1 when they wanted 3 million to flow the wrong way for SAS.  Anybody that asks for 3 million to consider coffing up 5 billion is as unserious as it gets. The actual buying airline Air France KLM comes up with no cash and the rest of the winning bidders group are just loan givers on generous terms for themselves. Obviously there must have been something not being talked about in it for SAS top managment or else they would never have gone for it.

The current shareholders in SAS must be even more saddened by the news that what they where forced to accept don't even result in a well funded SAS with minimum debt. The debt will only be slightly reduced since the capital on offer where not really sharecapital but more loans. 

The customers are not well catered for either in the new construct. Their hard earned loyalty miles are being mentioned in the most fluffy words ever said outside politics. Werff actually managed to say absolutely nothing in his multiline sentence statement.

The idea of Werf being a dealmaker that could sort out reorganisationand refinancing of broken airlines lies in tatters. This was pretty much also the result of his previous 2 charges where his followers as CEO had to take drastic measures and sort out the mess left behind. But those warning signs the SAS chairman and board chose to ignore when choosing their saviour. 

The desperation for being taken under the wings of a larger airline must have been so great that it overshadowed everything else in this deal. It has left us with a lot of questions; Whether Air France KLM actually had any money to bring to the table. If eventually being the underling in a larger entity was the best way forward for SAS. Whether changing airline alliance is the best for its customers and money making possibilities. How much did Werff's longing for going home to Holland play into his choice of suitor. 

And how long before other airline interests find that this was a missed opportunity for getting into long haul and freight by next to no cash investment. SAS will basically be an airline where nearly all its sharecapital is financed by a state that don't want controlling ownership and have given that part away for nothing.


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