SWEDEN. The restructuring of SAS Group announced this week will create a new status for the travel retail arm SAS Trading.
In 2001 a single listed share was introduced through the establishment of SAS AB, the holding company of the SAS Group. In 2002 the SAS Group introduced a clearer business structure with five individual business areas. A company statement said the structure is based on the concept of “decentralisation, responsibility for earnings and transparency.”
However, the SAS Group legal structure has so far not fully reflected the new business structure. To improve conditions for growth SAS Group said it has now initiated a process to harmonise the legal structure with the business structure through various steps, beginning with the transfer of employees in corporate functions from the SAS Consortium to SAS AB in November 2003.
In December, the SAS AB board of directors mandated group management to initiate a process for the transfer of SAS Trading and other units of the SAS Consortium – SAS Ground Services and SAS Technical Services – into separate subsidiaries of SAS AB.