By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Greg Roumeliotis and Marie Mannes
COPENHAGEN/NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. asset manager Apollo Global Management Inc plans to apply for approval from Swedish and Danish regulators to take a majority stake in SAS AB as part of the Scandinavian airline’s rescue plan, a source familiar with the matter said.
The news of interest from the U.S. asset manager sent the embattled carrier’s shares up some 14% in morning trade.
Such a deal would be a test of European Union rules, which prevent more than 50% of an airline being held outside the bloc of 27 members.
Given a large part of Apollo’s capital originates from Europe-based investors, the fund hopes it can get approval for a deal, according to the source who declined to be identified because the matter is confidential.
No final decision has yet been made on a possible investment, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The first source said that a deal could be done before the year-end.
Apollo and SAS declined to comment.
The move comes as the airline looks for large investors and seeks to raise equity as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen, Greg Roumeliotis in New York and Marie Mannes in Stockholm;Writing by Josephine Mason; Editing by Louise Heavens)
