This is your daily update on the story that is the survival of Saab. Today, we receive news that yet another party is interested in acquiring the Swedish car company, the third in as many days.
Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri confirms last month's report that Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra is also interested in Saab. Mahindra, which already owns Korean carmaker SsangYong and wants to become “India’s first global cult brand”, joins China's Youngman group and Turkish private equity firm Brightwell Holdings in bidding for Saab.
The receivers who have been appointed to handle Saab’s assets confirm that some companies have indeed expressed an informal, so far, interest.
“There have been no formal bids”, said receiver Anne-Marie Pouteaux. “We have had discussions with a number of interested parties. Some of them are interested in the factory as a whole and some of them are interested in parts of it”, added her colleague, Hans Bergvist.
Neither would disclose any names or which parts of Saab they want to buy, though Pouteaux stated that “We do have an objective to sell a totality (of Saab)”.
The coming week promises to be an interesting one for the future of Saab, so stay tuned.
Story Reference: Indiatimes
4 Comments:
Sure, and they will keep showing up as Saab is still a car company with an infrastructure already in place just waiting to be restarted. Get GM out of the way or simply go around GM and start the legal battles with GM and get on with it.
Not as easy as you think.
Spyker owns the real estate and the IP. GM still owns the tech, the platforms, and an agreement to build Saabs in a Mexican plant.
If what remains of Saab is bought, they still will have to uphold the agreements and ownership of whatever the buyer didn't buy from GM and/or Spyker.
All is precedent on where the court cases are held; the laws within said jurisdiction; and multiple other factors that if executed correctly would not be in GM's favor. Cut the model, for the time being, that GM assists with in Mexico. No doubt that Spyker can be bought out or even participate in new joint venture that can further Spyker's horizons. Not easy, but doable, just look at GM's own US bailout from an insolvent/defunct company.
Would be nice if there was anyway SAAB could be purchased and restarted. It maybe too late now that it is in such a deep financial mess. I doubt GM would allow anyone at this point to continue the brand.....just because they can.
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