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.

Sweden and Denmark both have authority to reduce their stakes in the airline.

"The plans to decrease ownership in SAS at a suitable time stand firm," said Victoria Ericsson, press secretary to Peter Norman, Sweden's minister for financial markets.

The Swedish ministry of finance, which is responsible for questions concerning state-owned enterprises, had no comment to the Norwegian move.

Soren Gregersen, head of communication at the Danish Ministry of Finance said: "What we have said earlier also is that if the right possibility comes along we are open as well. What is right depends on whether the alternative is better for SAS and the Danish society at large, and of course that the offered price is reasonable.

Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said the Norwegian move didn't necessarily mean that a deal with another airline was any closer, adding it merely would clear a technical hurdle to proceed with the divestment plan.

"I would expect a coordinated sale by Norway, Denmark and Sweden, not incremental stake sales," he said.

According to Pedersen, the only way an industrial buyer would get critical mass was by acquiring the countries' entire combined holding of 50%.

German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE), which previously has been identified as a potential bidder, declined to comment, but said two weeks ago that it wasn't pursuing mergers and acquisitions at the moment.

Giske said he wanted Norway's 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 1315 GMT, SAS shares traded up 4.1% at 22.90 Swedish kronor, while shares in Yara traded up 2.6% at 287.60 Norwegian kroner and shares in Kongsbergs Gruppen traded up 1.3% at NOK155.50.

-By Katarina Gustafsson, Dow Jones Newswires +46-8-5451-3097; katarina.gustafsson@dowjones.com

(Anna Molin in Stockholm and Kirsten Bienk in Frankfurt contributed to this article.)