Earlier today I reported that the Swedish National Debt Office in a press release said that their work in the process of selling Saab's properties to release fresh money for Saab was completed, and that the issue now was in the hands of the European Investment Bank. Later Spyker Cars confirmed this in a press release.
Now Svenska Dagbladet has been in contact with the European Investment Bank, which tells us that even General Motors has to agree on the sale. Earlier we knew that GM had to agree before a new owner could come into Saab, but even before the sale of the properties?
Holy moly, Spyker and Saab needs to get out of this EIB loan mess! At the moment Saab is more run by bureaucrats and politicians than the Saab management, board of directors and owners!
Update: According to TTELA, Eric Geers from Saab says that both Saab and GM has done their part to make the property sale happen. The European Investment Bank is the only obstacle that remains:
When Saab's communications director Eric Geers comments on the European Investment Bank's handling of the sales process, he is clearly disappointed and annoyed.
- We are a bit surprised that their decision takes so much time. It is for us an enigma. We have no explanation for why it drags on and we can not give any explanation to our suppliers, says Eric Geers.
- We would've loved to be able to tell our 3,800 employees that the EIB has approved the deal. But unfortunately that's not possible because their internal processes are not finished.
According to Eric Geers, everything is ready from Saab and GM's side.
- The National Debt Office says the agreement now is with the EIB, but there seems to be no communication from them.Eric Geers was also upset when he spoke to Dagens Industri:
One can wonders what the EIB is doing. They got all the documents on Monday morning, just like the National Debt Office and the Swedish government. The National Debt Office took a positive decision on Tuesday, but the EIB still can not decide, says Eric Geer, spokeswoman for Saab Automobile, which emphasizes that all the employees at Saab are waiting for a response.
As far as I can see, there is no reason why the EIB should not make a quick decision and approve the deal. After all, the loan Saab has in the EIB is guaranteed by the Swedish National Debt Office and the changes in the collateral and the loan amount does not pose any risk to the EIB. But I guess the EIB needs to show everybody that they are in charge of Saab's loans.
