Norway to sell remaining SAS shares

Norway's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries announced (26-Jun-2018) its intention to sell its remaining 37.8 million shares in SAS, corresponding to approximately 9.88% of ordinary shares. The transaction confirms previous communications by the government stating the Norwegian state is not a long term owner of SAS. Parliament renewed the authorisation to sell shares several times, most recently in the 2018 national budget. The transaction follows the previous sale of shares in SAS by the Norwegian state and will, if all shares are sold, complete the Norwegian state's divestment of its ownership stake in SAS. The government noted its ownership of SAS was purely commercial. Consequently, it is not expected that the company will be making strategic or operational changes following the transaction.