According to Bloomberg, General Motors (GRM) is close to announcing a deal to sell its Saab division to Spyker Cars. A person familiar with the matter said that an announcement could come as early as late afternoon in Sweden. In Amsterdam, trading was suspended on the automaker amid the rumors.
Spyker has offered GM roughly $75 million in cash and $325 million preferred shares in Spyker, which would come from the transaction. Reportedly GM would receive $100 million of Saab's existing liquidity.
Spyker was not the only company bidding on Saab, as Genii Capital and a "Wyoming-based group" were both in the running for the GM branch. In addition, Swedish auto manufacturer Koenigsegg Group left a deal for Saab on the table in November, which resulted in Beijing Auto acquiring some Saab car technology for use in its vehicles.
Is this a good move? One way or the other, GM is going to get rid of Saab -- the question is how much money can the American automaker receive for the brand? At this point, one would think that GM would be happy to receive any money, and a deal worth $75 million in cash, $325 million in shares and $100 million in existing liquidity is nothing to sneeze at.
Stay tuned to this story, I have a feeling Saab will no longer be in GM's control when the day ends. Saving the Saab brand should be good news for one Chicago-area Ikea store though -- it will keep those pesky Saab owners from protesting in their parking lot .
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-26-2010 @ 11:29AM
jd said...
Saab is an unreliable, poorly-made, ugly car. Why pay a premium for crap when you can spend the same amount for a BMW, Mercedes or Lexus?
1-27-2010 @ 6:59PM
karen cline said...
I think the public is beyond caring what GM does. They can't make a good product, they don't know how to run a business, and nobody wants to take a chance and invest in their company.