Spyker extends deadline on offer to buy GM's Saab

ERJ staff report (TB)

AMSTERDAM/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- Sweden said a last-ditch bid by Spyker Cars for Saab offered a thread of hope the brand would survive, as talks between the Dutch sports car maker and General Motors Co. triggered an extended deadline.

Russia-backed Spyker lodged a renewed fast-track offer to buy Saab from GM on Sunday, imposing an expiration of 5 p.m. eastern time today that has now been extended.

"It is open-ended. It has been extended until further notice," Spyker CEO Victor Muller said.

Spyker -- which made 43 luxury cars last year against Saab's sales of 93,295 -- made a new offer for Saab just two days after talks with GM over a rescue of the money-losing Swedish manufacturer collapsed.

Swedish Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson earlier told a news conference the renewed approach from Spyker had offered a slim thread of hope of finding a solution for Saab.

"It is very late, there is a very tight timetable, and that means the situation is very difficult," she said after meeting with representatives of Saab and local authorities.

Spyker said on Sunday it had submitted a new offer to GM, including an 11-point proposal addressing issues that arose during the due diligence process for its old bid.

"We've had various discussions with them today," Muller told Reuters, adding that talks were "definitely" ongoing, but there was nothing new to report.

Muller said earlier that the deadline was only given to gain clarity about GM's wind down scenario for Saab.

GM spokesman Chris Preuss pointed to the company's statement that it will not comment until it has finished examining the additional inquiries it received for Saab after giving the brand the death sentence on Friday.

Shutdown aid

The Swedish government said it would allot 542 million Swedish crowns ($75 million) to measures, mainly for education and job plans, to help deal with the thousands of jobs set to disappear if Saab was shut down.

Abandoning the 60-year-old Swedish auto brand would eliminate 3,400 jobs in Sweden and drop 218 U.S. dealerships. GM raised hopes on Sunday when it said it would evaluate several new expressions of interest for Saab.

"We should be careful about fueling new hopes in a situation where the people in Trollhattan, and at Saab and their subcontractors are thrown between hope and despair," Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told journalists.

Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet, citing unidentified sources, said the ownership structure backing the Spyker bid had been altered to placate worries at GM and that Russian parties were no longer involved.

"That which was considered a problem has been solved," the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

Russian banking tycoon Vladimir Antonov holds an almost 30 percent stake in Spyker.

Russian state-controlled Sberbank and Canada's Magna International Inc. tried to buy a stake in GM's Opel unit until GM decided to keep it last month. Russia is keen to obtain Western technology to re-energize its local car industry.

Spyker CEO Muller said if a deal is achieved, Saab and Spyker would operate as sibling companies, where Spyker could benefit from Saab's technical resources and its distribution network, while Spyker would bring entrepreneurial skills to Saab. "The synergies are very, very clear," he said.

Spyker Cars said its new offer eliminates the need for a European Investment Bank (EIB) loan approval prior to year end, which would allow the deal to be concluded within GM's deadline of December 31, but Muller said approval of the EIB loan could still take place in 2010.

"The ball is in GM's court and I don't know how GM views this. That remains to be seen," said Paul Akerlund, local union leader at Saab's production hub in Trollhattan.

Saab spokesman Eric Geers has declined comment.

From Automotive News (A Crain publication)