UPDATE: Norway Seeks Approval To Sell 14.3% Stake In SAS

Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske Friday sought parliamentary approval to sell the government's 14.3% stake in Scandinavian airline SAS AB (SAS.SK).

The minister also requested approval to sell maritime contractor Secora AS and property company Entra Eiendom AS, in which the Norwegian government has full ownership.

"We want to sell the state's ownership in SAS, we want to sell Secora and we no longer see the reason why the state should have an ownership in Entra," he told reporters in Oslo.

The minister declined to comment on whether the government had been approached by potential bidders for SAS, but said it was looking for an industrial solution. Norway controls SAS jointly with the governments of Sweden and Denmark, which hold stakes of 21.4% and 14.3%, respectively.

"The state is in no financial trouble so we are in no hurry to sell our ownership in SAS," Giske said, adding the Norwegian government was seeking parliamentary approval to sell its stake in order to be able to act if there was a window of opportunity.

Giske said he wanted parliament to give the state the right to participate in potential equity increases in Kongsbergs Gruppen ASA (KOG.AS), of which it owns 50.001%, and Yara International ASA (YAR.OS), in which it holds 36.21%. He also said the government would increase investments in state-owned investment group Investinor.

At 1116 GMT, SAS shares traded down 0.3% at 21.70 Swedish kronor ($3.44), while shares in Yara traded up 0.8% at 282.50 Norwegian krone ($51.15) and shares in Kongsbergs Gruppen traded up 1% at NOK155.

-By Katarina Gustafsson, Dow Jones Newswires [phone]; [e-mail]