Saab's efforts to secure funding continues
According to the local Trollhattan news paper TTELA, Saab's efforts to raise money continues full speed ahead. They are still working on the property sale transaction, but also on a "plan B" to secure fund without selling properties. Talks with a possible Chinese partner also continues.
Saab is working on Plan B
At the same time the National Debt Office's review of Vladimir Antonov as a possible part owner of the Saab continued yesterday, there were feverish work done in Stockholm to work out a plan for a short-term financing of the company that does not need the European Investment Bank's approval.
The situation that followed the tough conditions set by the EIB to allow Saab to carry out the sale transaction with Vladimir Antonov's company, put the whole process on its head last Thursday. And suddenly the whole question of short-term financing of the company and the ability to restart production was again uncertain - as the future of the entire company.
But the management of Saab with Muller in charge, have according to sources familiar with the process since the weekend continued to work on solving the short-term financing. It's simply put about getting in cash without going through with the real estate sale that requires EIB's approval and without the use of the funds from Vladimir Antonov, which was on a Swedish bank account just waiting to be paid to Saab.
As TTELA has reported earlier, the first payment in the sale transaction would be an amount of SEK 270 million - but much more at a later stage.
Another question is whether the EIB can modify the conditions set, conditions which required that the deal would be valid for only 90 days. A longer period than three months would mean that one would be approaching the time frame set by Vladimir Antonov and his Swedish contacts Lars Carlström to repay the EIB loan - they have been talking about a time frame of half a year or even one year.
And the lead on a Chinese partner that TTELA reported about earlier, is also still relevant. An annoucement could come this week if everything works out.
At the same time the National Debt Office and Vladimir Antonov had a meeting, a meeting that the National Debt Office announced last week. The meeting, which was slightly behind schedule, started at half passed three in the afternoon and lasted for several hours. After the meeting, the director of the National Debt Office, Bo Lundgren, told TT the following:
- We have asked questions and we have received answers, and added that he expected that the National Debt Office would be able to make a decision within days.
According to TTELA's sources, the tone of the meeting was positive. Another question, if the National Debt Office gives a yes, is what the EIB decides about the ownership issue. The process surrounding the sale transaction can suggest that the EIB can assess the situation differently than the Swedish authorities.
