IMPORTANT NEWS: National Electric Vehicle Sweden has agreed to buy the assets of Saab Automobile and the sale is expected to be finalized during the summer.

Friday, October 21, 2011

The latest knight in shining armour drives Saab

On Thursday this week Saab announced that the Greenwich, Connecticut based private-equity firm North Street Capital would help fund Saab and Saab's parent company Swedish Automobile by buying new issued shares worth $10 million and also by giving the companies a loan of $60 million. North Street Capital is also the firm that has agreed to buy the Spyker sports car division from Swedish Automobile. A deal worth $44 million (EUR 32 million).

Now when the deal to sell 53.9 per cent of Swedish Automobile to the Chinese companies Youngman and Pang Da seem to crumble away, some news providers report that Mascioli and North Street Capital might also be interested and willing to buy into Saab.

To Reuters Mascioli said that Saab is an undervalued asset that will survive and from which he expects to turn a profit. He added that North Street Capital has the capacity to take over Saab should it wish to do so.

Alex Mascioli is managing partner of North Street Capital of Greenwich, Connecticut. Mascioli is said to be a race car driver and a car enthusiast. When Swedish Dagens Industri asked him why he is so interested in sports cars, he said the following:

"I believe many men are. It starts when you are a little boy. It's a guy thing," he said and laughed.

Alex Mascioli and Victor Muller know eachother through a mutual acquaintance. The two men apparently found that they have a common interest in cars and business.

"I am a car guy. I have always driven race cars and have collected cars, and he is the same type of person," Mascioli said to DI about himself and Victor Muller.

They had never done business untill Swedish Automobile in September agreed to sell the Spyker sports car division to Mascioli's private-equity firm North Street Capital. And now they even seem to partner up in Saab.

Mascioli's company North Street Capital, is a hedge fund company. It runs a Global Macro hedge fund, a private venture fund and a fund of funds (The Sapphire Funds). The overall investment strategy is opportunistic, with a focus on public and private equity, global hedging markets, structured credit arbitrage, real estate, transportation, turn arounds and workouts.

When Swedish Automobile sold Spyker to Alex Mascioli and North Street Capital, Car & Driver did an interview with the car enthusiast from Connecticut. And it turns out that he has a few Saabs of his own in his garage!

Car&Driver: What’s in your own garage?

Alex Mascioli: Just a few Saabs [noticeable pause] and a Lamborghini Gallardo.