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SAS — AGM Information 2020
Aug 20, 2020
2961_rns_2020-08-20_1d617577-ddb9-4463-8b3c-21602974c9cc.html
AGM Information
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Notice convening the Extraordinary General Meeting of SAS AB
Notice convening the Extraordinary General Meeting of SAS AB
Shareholders in SAS AB (publ) (hereinafter the "Company") are hereby invited to
attend the Extraordinary General Meeting on Tuesday 22 September 2020. The
Extraordinary General Meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. at the Company's Head
Office, Frösundaviks allé 1, Solna, Sweden. The meeting venue will open at 9:15
a.m. for registration. Registration of participants at the meeting ends when the
meeting is called to order.
SAS welcomes all shareholders to exercise their voting rights at the
Extraordinary General Meeting through advance voting as described below.
Information on the resolutions passed at the Extraordinary General Meeting will
be published on Tuesday 22 September 2020.
Instructions to holders of common shares registered with Euroclear Sweden AB in
Sweden (other than holders of common shares registered with VP Securities A/S,
the Danish Central Securities Depositary, or with Verdipapirsentralen, the
Norwegian Central Securities Depositary)
Shareholders who wish to attend the Extraordinary General Meeting must be
registered in the share register of the Company maintained by Euroclear Sweden
AB on Monday 14 September 2020, and must notify the Company no later than
Wednesday 16 September 2020, preferably before 4:00 p.m., through the Company's
website www.sasgroup.net (under "About SAS/Corporate Governance") or by
telephone to +46709971058 on weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Notification may also be made at the following address: SAS AB (publ), Attn:
Britta Eriksson/STODL, SE-195 87 Stockholm.
Shareholders whose shares are registered in the name of a nominee must, in
addition to giving notice of participation, have their shares registered in
their own name in the share register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB by the record
date Monday 14 September 2020 to be entitled to participate in the Extraordinary
General Meeting. Such registration can be temporary (so called voting-rights
registration). Shareholders who wish to register the shares in their own name
must, in accordance with the respective nominee's instructions, in sufficient
time prior to the record date, request that the nominee makes such voting-rights
registration.
Instructions to holders of common shares registered with VP Securities A/S in
Denmark
Shareholders of common shares in Denmark who wish to attend the Extraordinary
General Meeting must notify VP Investor Services A/S (VP) of this in writing
through filling in and signing relevant form to the following address:
Weidekampsgade 14, P.O. 4040, DK-2300 København S, Denmark, per email to
[email protected] or through VP InvestorPortalen at www.sasgroup.net (under
"About SAS/Corporate Governance") or www.vp.dk/gf, by 3:00 p.m. on Monday 14
September 2020.
Shareholders whose shares are registered with VP Securities A/S in Denmark must,
in addition to giving notice of participation, temporarily have their shares
registered in the their own name (so called voting-rights registration) in the
share register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB by the record date Monday 14
September 2020 to be entitled to participate in the Extraordinary General
Meeting. Shareholders who wish to register the shares in their own name must
request that VP makes such voting-rights registration. A request for such
registration must be submitted in sufficient time and no later than 3:00 p.m. on
Monday 14 September 2020 to VP through Internet as set out above or at the
address above. Forms for notification of attendance and proxy forms are provided
by VP and are available at www.sasgroup.net (under "About SAS/Corporate
Governance") and will also be sent out to registered shareholders who have
notified their email address to the Company. The registration application should
include the account operating institution in Denmark (with the custody account
number) with which the shareholder's common shares are deposited.
Shareholders whose common shares are already registered in the name of the owner
with Euroclear Sweden AB may send in a notification of attendance to the Company
at a later date, but no later than Wednesday 16 September 2020, preferably
before 4:00 p.m., in the manner prescribed above.
Instructions to holders of common shares registered with Verdipapirsentralen
(VPS) in Norway
Shareholders of common shares in Norway who wish to attend the Extraordinary
General Meeting must notify Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge, Securities Services
- Issuer Services, of this in writing to P.O. Box 1166 Sentrum, NO-0107, Oslo,
Norway, Attn: René Herskedal or by email to [email protected], by 3:00 p.m. on
Monday 14 September 2020 at the latest.
Shareholders whose shares are registered with VPS in Norway must, in addition to
giving notice of participation, temporarily have their shares registered in the
their own name (so called voting-rights registration) in the share register kept
by Euroclear Sweden AB by the record date Monday 14 September 2020 to be
entitled to participate in the Extraordinary General Meeting. Shareholders who
wish to register the shares in their own name must request that Nordea Norway
makes such voting-rights registration. A request for such registration must be
submitted in sufficient time and no later than 3:00 p.m. on Monday 14 September
2020, to Nordea Norway at the address above. Forms for notification of
attendance and proxy forms are provided by Nordea Norway and are available at
www.sasgroup.net (under "About SAS/Corporate Governance") and will also be sent
out to registered shareholders who have notified their email address to the
Company.
Shareholders whose common shares are already registered in the name of the owner
with Euroclear Sweden AB may send in a notification of attendance to the Company
at a later date, but no later than Wednesday 16 September 2020, preferably
before 4:00 p.m., in the manner prescribed above.
Instructions applicable to all shareholders
Shareholders with shares registered in more than one country should state this
when submitting their notifications. Shareholders or their representatives may
be accompanied by no more than two assistants at the Extraordinary General
Meeting. Assistants to shareholders will be admitted to the Extraordinary
General Meeting only if the shareholder notifies the number of assistants in
accordance with the notification instructions provided above for shareholders'
participation in each country.
Shareholders represented by proxy must issue a dated written proxy for their
representative. If possible, the proxy should be based on the proxy form
provided by the Company. The proxy in original should be sent in sufficient time
prior to the Extraordinary General Meeting and preferably no later than
Monday 14 September 2020, to one of the addresses provided in this notice.
Representatives of a legal entity must also submit a certified copy of the
registration certificate or equivalent authorizing documentation. At the
Extraordinary General Meeting, a list is to be prepared of the present
shareholders, representatives and assistants with details of the number of
shares and votes each shareholder or proxy represents at the Extraordinary
General Meeting (voting list). A list of shareholders, proxies and assistants
who have submitted notification of their attendance with the stated details
(list of participants) will be distributed at the registration for the
Extraordinary General Meeting.
Advance voting
The shareholders may exercise their voting rights at the Extraordinary General
Meeting by voting in advance, so-called postal voting in accordance with Section
3 of the Act (2020:198) on temporary exceptions to facilitate the execution of
general meetings in companies and other associations.
A special form shall be used for advance voting. The form is available on SAS's
website,
www.sasgroup.net (under "About SAS/Corporate Governance").
The completed voting form must be received by SAS no later than 7:00 p.m. on
Monday 21 September 2020. The form may be submitted via e-mail to
[email protected] or by post to SAS AB (publ) Attn. Britta Eriksson/STODL,
SE-195 87 Stockholm. If the shareholder votes in advance by proxy, a power of
attorney shall be enclosed to the form. If the shareholder is a legal entity, a
certificate of incorporation or a corresponding document shall be enclosed to
the form. The shareholder may not provide special instructions or conditions in
the voting form. If so, the vote (i.e. the advance voting in its entirety) is
invalid. Further instructions and conditions are included in the form for
advance voting.
For questions about the Extraordinary General Meeting or to have the advance
voting form sent by post, please contact SAS on telephone +46709971058 (on
weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.).
Admission cards for the Extraordinary General Meeting
Admission cards, to be presented when entering the Extraordinary General Meeting
venue, will be sent out around 18 September 2020 to all shareholders who have
submitted a notification of attendance in accordance with the instructions
above.
Number of shares and votes in the Company
The Company has at the time of publication of this notice issued 382,582,551
common shares, 0 subordinate shares and 0 shares of series C, equivalent to a
total of 382,582,551 votes. No shares are held by the Company itself.
Proposed agenda
1. Meeting is called to order.
2. Election of a chairperson for the meeting.
3. Preparation and approval of the voting list.
4. Approval of the agenda.
5. Election of two persons to verify the minutes.
6. Determination of whether the meeting has been duly convened.
7. Resolutions on:
a. amendments of the Articles of Association,
b. reduction of the share capital,
c. additional amendments of the Articles of Association,
d. authorization for the Board to resolve on new issues of common shares, and
e. bonus issue.
8. Meeting is adjourned.
PROPOSALS FOR RESOLUTIONS
The Board's proposal for resolutions in accordance with item 2 (election of a
chairperson for the meeting) on the agenda
The Board proposes that Attorney-at-law Andreas Steen is elected chairperson for
the meeting.
The Board's proposal for resolutions in accordance with item 7 (new share issues
authorization etc.) on the agenda
The Company has, through press releases dated 30 June 2020 and 14 August 2020,
announced that the Board has resolved on a Recapitalization Plan conditional
upon, among other things, necessary general meeting approvals. The
Recapitalization Plan comprises several capital injections, including new issues
of common shares (i) to the holders of outstanding unsecured bonds due 24
November 2022 (the "Bonds") and to the holders of subordinated perpetual capital
securities issued on 16 October 2019 (the "Hybrid Notes") with payment by set
-off (the "Set-off Issues"), (ii) a directed issue of common shares for cash to
the Company's two largest shareholders (the "Directed Issue"), i.e. to the
Government of Sweden and the Government of Denmark (together the "Major
Shareholders"), and (iii) a rights issue of common shares to existing
shareholders (the "Rights Issue"). The Set-off Issues, the Directed Issue and
the Rights Issue are in the below jointly referred to as the "Share Issues". The
Company announced the contemplated terms of the Share Issues in the
abovementioned press releases dated 30 June 2020 and 14 August 2020. The Major
Shareholders' participation is conditional on inter alia conversion of the Bonds
and the Hybrid Notes, on approval by the European Commission and on the
mandatory bid exemptions granted by the Swedish Securities Council applying, as
further set out in the press releases.
Further, the Board proposes by reason of the Shares Issues, that the share
capital shall be reduced in order to obtain a lower quota value. In order to
increase the Company's share capital following the proposed share capital
reduction, the Board proposes that the Extraordinary General Meeting also
resolves on a bonus issue. Resolutions on the share capital reduction, the Share
Issues and the bonus issue require that the Articles of Association be amended
concurrently.
The reasons for the authorization for the Board to resolve on the Set-off Issues
and the Directed Issue, comprising new issues of common shares with
disapplication of the shareholders' preferential rights, are the following. The
conversion of the Bonds and the Hybrid Notes as well as the Directed Issue
constitute integral and central parts of the Recapitalization Plan that have
been requested by the Major Shareholders as a condition for their participation
in the Recapitalization Plan. In this regard, the Board has evaluated other
options and has assessed that current market conditions, and the availability of
subscription undertakings and underwriting commitments, would not enable a
rights issue in the amount necessary to carry out the Recapitalization Plan.
Following extensive negotiations to date, the Board presents the proposals
below, on the basis of the Set-off Issues and the Directed Issue being necessary
and required parts of the Recapitalization Plan that the Company from an overall
perspective considers to strike a balance between various stakeholders, given
the size of the recapitalization and the requirements from the Major
Shareholders. If the Recapitalization Plan is not implemented and fails, SAS
will not be able to recapitalize and remedy the liquidity shortage and the
negative equity caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, which would have a material
adverse effect on the Company's financial condition.
7 a Amendments of the Articles of Association
In order to enable the proposed reduction of the Company's share capital set out
below, the Board proposes that the Extraordinary General Meeting resolves that
the limitations with respect to the share capital in Article 5, first paragraph,
of the Company's Articles of Association be amended in such way that the lower
limit shall be SEK 250,000,000 and the higher limit shall be SEK 1,000,000,000.
7 b Reduction of the share capital
In order to obtain a lower quota value, the Board proposes that the Company's
share capital, currently amounting to SEK 7,689,909,275.10, shall be reduced by
SEK 7,402,972,361.85, without redemption of any shares, to be transferred to non
-restricted equity. Following the reduction of the share capital, the Company's
share capital will amount to SEK 286,936,913.25, divided into a total of
382,582,551 shares, with a quota value of SEK 0.75 per share.
7 c Additional amendments of the Articles of Association
In order to enable the below proposed authorization for the Board to resolve on
new issues of common shares and the proposed bonus issue, the Board proposes
that the Extraordinary General Meeting resolves that the limitations with
respect to the share capital and number of shares in Article 5, first paragraph,
of the Company's Articles of Association be amended in such way that:
(i) as regards the limitations with respect to the share capital, the lower
limit shall be SEK 6,000,000,000 and the higher limit shall be SEK
24,000,000,000; and
(ii) as regards the limitations with respect to the number of shares, the lower
limit shall be 4,500,000,000 shares and the higher limit shall be 18,000,000,000
shares.
7 d Authorization for the Board to resolve on new issues of common shares
The Board proposes the Extraordinary General Meeting to authorize the Board to
resolve, on one or several occasions up until the next Annual General Meeting,
to increase the Company's share capital through new issues of common shares with
or without disapplication of the shareholders' preferential rights. The total
number of shares that may be issued by virtue of the authorization shall, as a
maximum, amount to such number of shares that is within the limits set forth in
the Articles of Association. Payment shall be made by cash or, in respect of the
Set-off Issues by set-off against claims on the Company. For technical reasons,
the new share issues may be carried out as new issues by way of set-off after
subscription. Other terms and conditions for the issuances shall be decided by
the Board. In the event that the subscription price to be paid for each common
share is lower than the quota value of the share, an amount corresponding to the
difference between the subscription price and the quota value of the share,
multiplied with the number of issued shares, shall be contributed to the share
capital through a transfer from the Company's available non-restricted equity.
7 e Bonus issue
The Board proposes that the Extraordinary General Meeting resolves on a bonus
issue of SEK 3,200,000,000, without the issuance of any new shares, in order to
strengthen the Company's share capital. The increase of the share capital shall
be carried out through a transfer of funds to the share capital from the
Company's available non-restricted equity.
Majority requirements etc.
All proposals under item 7 of the agenda are conditional on each other and the
Board proposes that the Extraordinary General Meeting's resolutions under item 7
shall be adopted as a single and joint resolution. The resolution requires that
shareholders representing at least two-thirds (2/3) of the votes cast as well as
of the shares represented at the Extraordinary General Meeting approve the
resolution.
Each of the Major Shareholders has, subject to the conditions set out above,
expressed its support for the Recapitalization Plan and expressed its intention
to (a) subscribe for the common shares to be issued in the Directed Issue, (b)
subscribe for its pro rata share of the Rights Issue and (c) underwrite such
additional number of common shares in the Rights Issue that the commitment by
each Major Shareholder amounts to approximately MSEK 1,497 (i.e. in aggregate
approximately MSEK 2,994, corresponding to approximately 75% of the Rights
Issue). Following completion of the Directed Issue and the Rights Issue, each of
the Major Shareholders will end up holding the same number of shares and votes
in the Company. The third largest shareholder, KAW, has expressed its support
for the Recapitalization Plan and has undertaken to subscribe for its pro rata
share of the Rights Issue (KAW's current shareholding in the Company amounts to
6.50% of the shares and votes), corresponding to approximately MSEK 259, subject
to among other things the fulfilment of the above described subscription and
underwriting commitments by the Major Shareholders.
Each of the Major Shareholders has been granted an exemption by the Swedish
Securities Council in respect of the Swedish mandatory bid obligation in the
event that, as a consequence of its respective participation in the Directed
Issue and Rights Issue, its shareholding in the Company would equal or exceed
30% of the votes. The Government of Sweden's mandatory bid exemption is
conditional upon that the shareholder resolution authorizing the Directed Issue
and the Rights Issue is approved by the Extraordinary General Meeting with at
least two-thirds (2/3) of the votes cast as well as of the shares represented at
the Extraordinary General Meeting disregarding any shares represented by the
Government of Sweden. The Government of Denmark's mandatory bid exemption is
conditional upon that the shareholder resolution authorizing the Directed Issue
and the Rights Issue is approved by the Extraordinary General Meeting with at
least two-thirds (2/3) of the votes cast as well as of the shares represented at
the Extraordinary General Meeting disregarding any shares represented by the
Government of Denmark. The maximum number of shares and votes in the Company
that can be held by each of the Government of Sweden and the Government of
Denmark due to its respective undertakings has been announced by the Company by
a press release on 14 August 2020.
Authorization for the CEO
The Board proposes that the CEO shall be authorized to make the minor
adjustments to the above resolution in connection with the registration thereof
with the Swedish Companies Registration Office and Euroclear Sweden AB.
____________________
Documents in accordance with Chapter 12, Section 7 and Chapter 20, Sections 13
-14 of the Companies Act will be available at the Company and on the Company's
website www.sasgroup.net (under "About SAS/Corporate Governance") no later than
1 September 2020. The documents will be sent to shareholders who so request at
the Company's address SAS AB (publ), Attn. Britta Eriksson /STODL, SE-195 87
Stockholm, stating their address.
____________________
If a shareholder so requests, and if the Board of Directors determines it can be
made without significant harm to the Company, at the Extraordinary General
Meeting, the Board of Directors and the CEO shall provide information on
circumstances that may affect the assessment of an agenda item.
____________________
The notice of this Extraordinary General Meeting will be distributed by e-mail
to all registered shareholders who have notified their e-mail address to the
Company. The notice will also be held available at the Company's website
www.sasgroup.net (under "About SAS/Corporate Governance"). The notice will
further be sent by regular mail free of charge to shareholders who so request at
the Company's address SAS AB (publ), Attn. Britta Eriksson/STODL, SE-195 87
Stockholm, stating their address.
____________________
For information on how your personal data is processed, see
https://www.euroclear.com/dam/ESw/Legal/Privacy-notice-bolagsstammor
-engelska.pdf
____________________
Stockholm in August 2020
SAS AB
The Board of Directors