Correction about the wage guarantee and wage payment for October
Yesterday it was reported by TTELA that even the wages for September have now been paid to the Saab employees. Which is of course great news for both the employees and Saab as a whole. Both the August and the September wages have been paid by the Västra Götaland County Administrative Board, but Saab will have to pay this money back to the County Administrative later on as this is only seen as a temporary loan.
TTELA reports that the blue collar labor union IF Metall has now formally withdrawn the bankruptcy filing against Saab since the August wages have been paid. So that's one legal issue less to worry about for Saab. The bankruptcy filings from the labour unions Unionen and Ledarna, as well as the one from the supplier Takata-Petr, still remains but has been declared pending due to the reconstruction. One can however expect that the filings from the two labor unions will be withdrawn now that wages have been paid in full to all employees.
Now that also the September wages have been paid, some of Saab's employees may have reached the limit of the state wage guarantee (SEK 171,200) but it seems that Saab will contribute with money so that also these employees will be secured full wage payment for next month, October.
Also in the news from yesterday is the report from Financial Times that Swedish Automobile has sold or is in the process of selling Spyker Automotive (Spyker Sports Car division) to an American Connecticut-based private equity firm named North Street Capital LP. Earlier this year Swedish Auto made a deal to sell Spyker to the Russian banker Vladimir Antonov for a EUR 15 million cash payment and up to EUR 17 million in future profits, but that deal fell through. Now it looks like another buyer has emerged. It is presently unknown what the sale price is, but any money will be very much welcome into the Swedish Automobile accounts.
Swedish Automobile has now issued a press release confirming that a conditional agreement has been reached with North Street Capital LP about the main terms of the sale of the Spyker sportscar business. The sale sum of approximately EUR 32 million will be used to redeem Swedish Automobile's debt to Tenaci Capital B.V., to which the Spyker assets are pledged to.
Swedish Automobile does however stress that there can be no assurance that the sale negotiations can be completed successfully.
A blog fueled by enthusiasm about Saab, the greatest car company between the North and the South Pole. And their cars, which probably is the only cars that would start on a cold and crispy South Pole morning.
