General Motors has chosen Swedish luxury sports car maker
Koenigsegg Automotive AB as the preferred bidder for the Saab
brand, news reports said.
Koenigsegg and Norwegian investors have signed a letter of intent
to take over Saab, Swedish television said today, attributing its
report to unnamed sources. "The deal is there now and a few minor
details remain," a source told Reuters.
The reports follow earlier statements from Saab spokesman saying an
announcement on the top finalist could come as soon as this
week.
GM, which filed for Chapter 11 protection June 1, put Saab into the
equivalent of bankruptcy in February after deciding to cut its
20-year ties with the brand.
The shedding of Saab underscores GM's intensified global effort to
jettison non-performing brands and business lines.
Over the last two weeks, the automaker has announced preliminary
agreements to sell Hummer to a Chinese suitor and to sell Saturn to
Roger Penske's Penske Automotive Group Inc. On Monday, GM said it
would terminate its medium-duty truck business after trying to sell
it for four years. A deal to sell the unit to Navistar Inc. fell
apart.
GM spokesman Chris Preuss declined to comment on the Saab
bidding.
Koenigsegg was one of three Saab finalists named in recent
published reports.
Bloomberg News, citing one person familiar with the talks, said
Koenigsegg was picked because it's an automaker and because it is
committed to investing in Saab.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that
Merbanco, a group of Wyoming investors, is interested in Saab, as
is U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert's Renco Group.
The FT said GM would provide $500 million in
assets and cash, plus production equipment for a new Saab model as
well as $150 million of cash already in Saab's account.
Under the deal, the new owner is to pay GM back if it succeeds in
turning around Saab, the report said.
Cash amounts pledged by the three bidders vary, but it is smaller
than the amount GM is contributing, the paper said.
