Sweden

Scandinavian airline SAS said yesterday that a U.S. Bankruptcy Court had approved its chapter 11 reorganization plan, Reuters reported. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles approved SAS AB’s bankruptcy restructuring at a court hearing in Manhattan, clearing the airline to move ahead with a restructuring that includes a $1.2 billion investment from a consortium of bidders, including the Danish government. The deal will provide up to $325 million in value to the airline’s junior creditors through a combination of cash and equity in the reorganized company.

SBB, the landlord at the center of Sweden’s property crisis, saw its credit rating cut two notches by Fitch Ratings and may face another cut to “selective default” by S&P Global Ratings, Bloomberg News reported. Fitch downgraded the senior unsecured debt rating of Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB, as it is otherwise known, to CCC+ from B due to increased property disposals and tight liquidity, the credit evaluator said in a statement on Tuesday. S&P placed the company on watch for a possible downgrade to selective default, according to a separate statement.

Sweden's DSAM Sverige has withdrawn its bankruptcy petition against rival real estate company Oscar Properties after receiving confirmation that its claims had been paid, the Stockholm District Court said on Monday, Reuters reported. Shares in Oscar Properties were up about 40% to 0.58 Swedish crowns ($0.0567) at 1217 GMT after the court's announcement on Monday, but are still trading at a fraction of their historical highs reached in 2017. Oscar Properties was not immediately available for comment.

Swedish bankruptcies jumped 29% in 2023 to the highest level since the 1990s, when the bursting of a property bubble crippled the Nordic nation’s banking system, Bloomberg News reported. This may just be the tip of the iceberg in the wake of persistently high inflation and interest rates, according to UC, a credit reference agency that compiled the data. In December, bankruptcies increased overall by 23% from a year earlier, it said.

A group of bondholders in Essity AB are asking for their money back after arguing the Swedish personal care products maker has defaulted on its debt, Bloomberg News reported. The creditors sent a letter to the company last month saying it had breached a so-called cessation of business clause in its bonds by agreeing to sell its majority stake in tissue maker Vinda International Holdings Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter. That followed the firm signing an “irrevocable undertaking” in December to sell its 51.6% ownership of Vinda to Indonesian tycoon Sukanto Tanoto.

Textile recycler Renewcell revealed Sunday that it intends to file for bankruptcy, after failing to secure additional funding and consecutive quarters of slow sales, WDD reported. The Swedish company, a pioneer in textile-to-textile recycling and maker of the Circulose fiber, was due to report its full fiscal year earnings Friday, but postponed that release until Thursday.

Two of the most high-ranking executives of Oscar Properties Holding AB are leaving the beleaguered Swedish property developer as it struggles for survival amid a dramatic financing crunch in the Swedish real estate sector, Bloomberg News reported. Chief Executive Officer Carl Janglin and Chief Financial Officer Magnus Thimgren said Monday they will leave their respective positions after less than a year. Janglin will remain with Oscar Properties until a successor is in place. Oscar Properties has been hit with two separate bankruptcy claims from creditors in recent weeks.

The chief executive officer of Castellum AB warned that the rental market will weaken more as the Swedish landlord reported that the value of newly signed contracts was lower than terminated leases in the fourth quarter, Bloomberg News reported. “The property industry has a tough year behind it, and we should expect a weaker rental market going forward,” CEO Joacim Sjoberg said in the company’s earnings report, cautioning that more tenants — consisting of Swedish businesses and the public sector — may be impacted by a waning economy.

SBB said on Tuesday that one of its creditors had started legal proceedings against the Swedish property group for debt recovery, citing a breach of a bond clause, Reuters reported. Although the company did not disclose the name of the bondholder, it said the combined debt owned by the party represented 46 million euros ($49.43 million). Reuters reported in November that U.S. hedge fund Fir Tree Partners was accelerating its notes and starting proceedings against SBB for debt recovery, the first such official demand faced by the landlord.