Spyker Cars files lawsuit against General Motors

Spyker Cars, the previous parent company of Saab Automobile, today annouced that it has filed a lawsuit against General Motors. Spyker claims that GM took unlawful actions to push Saab into bankruptcy and thus avoid competition with Saab in the Chinese market. Here's the press release:

PRESS RELEASE: SPYKER FILES A THREE BILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT AGAINST GENERAL MOTORS

Zeewolde, the Netherlands, 6 August 2012 -- Spyker N.V. (Spyker) announced that it has filed a complaint against General Motors Company ("GM") in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan today at 08.00 AM EST. Spyker filed the complaint in its own right and on behalf of its 100 percent subsidiary Saab Automobile A.B., which was declared bankrupt on December 19, 2011.

This lawsuit seeks redress for the unlawful actions GM took to avoid competition with Saab Automobile in the Chinese market. GM's actions had the direct and intended objective of driving Saab Automobile into bankruptcy, a result of GM's tortiously interfering with a transaction between Saab Automobile, Spyker and Chinese investor Youngman that would have permitted Saab Automobile to restructure and remain a solvent, going concern. The monetary value of the claim amounts to US$ 3 billion (three billion US dollars).

Since Saab Automobile is in receivership and hence incapable to contribute to the costs of litigation, Spyker and Saab Automobile have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Spyker will bear the costs of such litigation in exchange for a very substantial share of Saab Automobile's award when the proceedings are successful. Spyker has secured the financial backing required to see the lawsuit through to the end from a third party investor.

Victor R. Muller, Spyker's Chief Executive Officer said: "Ever since we were forced to file for Saab Automobile's bankruptcy in December of last year, we have worked relentlessly on the preparation for this lawsuit which seeks to compensate Spyker and Saab for the massive damages we have incurred as a result of GM's unlawful actions.

We owe it to our stakeholders and ourselves that justice is done and we will pursue this lawsuit with the same tenacity and perseverance that we had when we tirelessly worked to save Saab Automobile, until GM destroyed those efforts and deliberately drove Saab Automobile into bankruptcy."

But this lawsuit, if successfull, will of course not bring the good old Saab back. It can only bring a nice profit (90 per cent of the award) to Spyker Cars and its shareholders.  If it wasn't all about money earlier, it certainly is now. But it would be nice to see GM get its ass kicked in court!

Disagreement on the SAAB brand name

You thought the Saab sale was done and peace and quiet could return to Saab? Think again. This is afterall the Saab saga. Nothing is done untill every deal is signed and money paid...

Today Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reports that there is disagreement around the SAAB brand name. On one side we have the defence and aerospace company Saab AB and the truck maker Scania AB, and they claim that they have to approve a new owner of Saab in order for this new owner to be able to use the SAAB brand name. On the other side we have Saab Automobile's new owner National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) and
the bankruptcy administrators, and they disagree with Saab AB and Scania.

The use of the SAAB brand name is reuglated by two agreements from the 1990ies. And the problem is that these agreements are now being interpreted different by the two sides.

None of the involved parties would however make comments to Svenska Dagbladet, so it is impossible to know if this is just a storm in a teacup or a serious problem that can bring down the deal.

Sources say that Saab AB got fed up with all the mess and uncertainty around Saab when Spyker owned the company. Reason being that many people around the world do not know the difference between the defense and aerospace company Saab AB and the car company Saab Automobile AB. And so people thought that also Saab AB was in trouble. To ensure this won't happen again, Saab AB wants a long term owner of Saab. And if Saab AB is reluctant to approve NEVS, then maybe they doubt if NEVS is in this for the long term, or the credibility of the business plan or the funding.

Saab deal done, press conference at 13:00 CET

According to a press release form the Saab bankruptcy administrators, an agreement to sell the assets of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB has been reached and the bankruptcy administrators have called a press conferense at 13:00 CET today. The buyer has however not been named.

Seeing that the deal includes only the Saab companies which have filed for bankruptcy and not Saab Automobile Parts AB, this points to National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) as the buyer. As does Sweden's National Debt Office's statement from a few days back that they will keep Saab Parts. But maybe most telling is the comment of the Chairman of NEVS:

"I won't say anything, but I am in a good mood today," Karl-Erling Trogen said to GP.se

So get ready to exchange the turbo with a battery!

The press release:

6/13/2012

Invitation to press conference concerning Saab insolvency
The official receivers for Saab Automobile hereby invite you to a press conference in Trollhättan on 13 June 2012.

The official receivers for Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB (Saab insolvency) hereby invite you to a press conference due to the conclusion of an agreement between the receivers and buyers of the assets of the companies.

The receivers and representatives of the buyers will attend the press conference.

Time: 13

June 1.00 pm (13.00 CET)

Place: Saab Automobile AB, Saabvägen, Stallbacka Industrial area, Trollhättan (main entrance).

NEVS still favorite to acquire Saab, but brand name issue not resolved

We have heard it several times before, but I guess it is worth repeating: National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) is the favorite to acquire the Saab bankruptcy assets. This time according to sources of Swedish business paper Dagens Industri.

But so far we have gotten no confirmation from the bankruptcy administrators or NEVS itself that NEVS is in fact the favorite or that a deal is close.

"We can confirm that we are a bidder, and we hope to succeed in acquiring the Saab bankruptcy estate," Mikael Östlund from communication firm Springtime, which represents NEVS, told TTELA earlier today.

One reason that no deal has been announced and NEVS is being careful not to say too much, could be the SAAB brand name issue. As reported here on Life with Saab many times, the use of the SAAB brand name and the gripen logo is regulated by a deal between Saab Automobile AB, Saab AB and Scania AB. So far neither Saab AB nor Scania AB have made any decision whether any bidder can use the brand name and logo.

Saab AB has however met NEVS to discuss the issue.

"We have met them and gotten information about what they are planning. We have gotten some information and we can use more information. It is also important to get answers to our questions," said Erik Ljungberg, head of communications at Scania to Swedish Radio P4 Väst.

Also Saab AB is requesting more information from the possible buyer.

"We still miss a number of important information," said Erik Magni from Saab AB.

According to Magni, Saab AB is in ongoing contact with the bankruptcy administrator responsible for the brand name issue. And the discussions have intensified lately.

"Yes, it has intensified the past weeks," Erik Ljungberg of Scania said.

Both companies emphasize that the new owner of Saab Automobile should not have any plans that could be in conflict with the two companies' businesses.

"For us it is important that the buyer has no plans to use the brand name in any way which conflicts with Scania's and our shareholders' activities," said Erik Ljungberg.

Batteries, biomass and cars

Battery, biomass and cars. That is what the group behind National Electric Vehicle Sweden's (NEVS) bid on the Saab estate wants to start producing at Saab's Stallbacka industrial area. And all signs points to NEVS as the next owner of Saab.

Yesterday the Trollhättan city manager told the media that the deal to sell Saab was done, but later her statement were dissmissed by the head of information at Trollhättan municipality. But where there's smoke, there's fire, right?

Last night Swedish TV SVT reported that Chinese Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile, which last week returned with an new and improved bid after being turned down by the administrators a couple of weeks earlier, now confirms that they have had no contact with the administrators lately. According to their spokesman, Johan Nylén, Youngman hasn't even gotten a response to their new and improved bid. So I guess we can count out Youngman for good now.

About Indian Mahindra & Mahindra we haven't heard much for a while. From Manhindra itself, we haven't in fact heard anything during this whole process. When all is said and done, I count Mahindra also out of the picture and maybe they weren't even in the picture!

One party that could become a prominent stakeholder in Saab's next phase and the future of Trollhättan is American battery maker Prudent Energy. According to TTELA, which cites a source, Prudent will start battery manufacturing for the automotive industry in Trollhättan. And the company will of course also be the battery making partner of NEVS.

Prudent Energy has its headquarters in the US, but has also operations in China. The company's CEO, Johnson Chiang, is also member of the board of State Power Group, the company owned by Kai Johan Jiang - the man behind NEVS.

TTELA also writes that there are plans to start a biomass production facility at Stallbacka. The company behind NEVS, National Modern Energy Holdings, is heavily involved in business concerning substainable energy sources, primarily biomass. And so it's no big surprise that they want to establish a biomass facility as well.

And one can hope that the plans to make cars are just as ambitious, and that they include regular everyday versatile (hybrid) cars as well as quirky electric cars!

Saab sale said to be done - or not?

Early today reports in Swedish media said that the Saab bankruptcy administrators had completed their task of selling Saab Automobile. The media reports were based on a statement by Trollhättan city Annika Wennerblom:

"That's what we know right now," Trollhättan city manager Annika Wennerblom said and continued "But we do not know when they will announce the buyer. They have said that it should be done this week, but time plans in these kind of situations are always difficult."

According to Wennerblom the sale would include all of the Saab bankruptcy estate.

The bankruptcy administrators would however not confirm that the deal was done:

"If and when there is news, we will of course announce it, but there is no news to announce today," said a spokesman for the administrators to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

According to sources of Swedish Radio P4 Väst, the buyer of Saab would be National Electric Vechicle Sweden.

The Chairman of NEVS, Karl-Erik Trogen, however declined to comment on the news.

And later this morning even head of information at Trollhättan municipality, Peter Asp, toned down and even dismissed the previous statement by the city manager:

"The municipal administration do not know if the deal has been concluded or not," Peter Asp told TTELA.

"I can guarantee that neither she [Annika Wennerblom], nor the mayor Paul Åkerlund, nor myself have any information that the administrators have concluded their work," Peter Asp elaborated to Swedish news agency TT.

NEVS launches web page, sale deadline pushed to midsummer

The company said to be favorite to acquire the bankrupt Saab Automobile's assets, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), has now launched their own web page at http://www.national-ev.se/en/

"We simply want in text to publish the information we have already told the media so that everyone can take part in this," says Johan Andersson at Springtime, which represent NEVS, to TTELA.

On its web page the company writes the following about Saab and Trollhättan:

"SAAB Automobile, Trollhättan and Sweden stands for innovativeness and technology excellence. At SAAB Automobile, the engagement for future transportation solutions is pervasive."

A deal for the sale of the Saab assets was supposed to be done by the end of May, but so far no deal has been announced. Today Swedish Radio P4 Väst writes that the deadline has been pushed to around midsummer, which could mean that we will have to wait another two or three weeks for a conclusion.

As reported earlier, NEVS is said to not be interested in buying the Saab spare parts company, Saab Automobile Parts AB, and that might have caused the Swedish National Debt Office, which currently owns Saab Parts, to object to a sale of Saab to NEVS. Sources say that Saab Parts has had trouble reaching expected sales figures as dealers in the US have found new suppliers of spare parts. And with declining sales prospects for the future, the NDO might have become worried that it by selling Saab Parts to a third party will not recover the SEK 2.2 billion it paid to the European Investment Bank when redeeming the bankrupt Saab's loan. And thus NDO will prefer that the buyer of Saab also buys Saab Parts at the asking price SEK 2.2 billion.

One company that is said to be willing to buy all of Saab, including Saab Parts for SEK 2.2 billion, is Chinese Youngman. The bankruptcy administrators terminated the negotiations with Youngman a few weeks ago, but last week the Chinese returned with a new and improved bid.

Question now is if Youngman's latest bid has brought the company back to the table of negotiations or not.

And what about the Indian company Mahindra? Has it given up on buying Saab and returned to India, or is it still in the game?

SEK 1.5 billion VS SEK 4 billion

In the right corner weighing in at SEK 4 billion, from China... Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile!

In the left corner weighing in at SEK 1.5 billion, National Electric Vehicle Sweden!

Let's get ready to rumble!

Today is the first day of June and we still have no word on a deal to sell the Saab bankruptcy estate. Earlier this week it looked like the electric car consortium, through its newly registered Swedish company National Electric Vehicle Sweden, would be the new owner of Saab. Reports say that NEVS is still the favorite, but the negotiations seem to have run into some challenges.

One challenge could be the price NEVS is offering. Reports say that it could be as little as SEK 1.5 billion. The offer does however not include Saab Automobile Parts. Offering a great deal more and wanting to buy also Saab Parts is Youngman. Their offer is said to be SEK 4 billion. The administrators main task is to raise as much money as possible so that the bankruptcy estate can pay its creditors as much as possible. And so the administrators can not simply brush aside a SEK 4 billion bid from Youngman. But the bankruptcy administrators require cash payment when a deal is signed, and Youngman must prove that the money is available for immediate payment.

To make the job to reach a deal even more complex, Svenska Dagbladet today reports that a number of deals made by Saab's former parent company, Spyker Cars, on behalf of Saab, must be sorted out before a sale can be done. And that is why Victor Muller came to Sweden earlier this week.

But that's not all. According to Svenska Dagbladet, also Saab's former head of design, Jason Castriota, is said to have some interest in what's going on in Trollhättan now. When he took the job as head designer at Saab and designed the Saab 9-3 replacement, he made a deal with Saab that he would get royalty payments for every Saab 9-3 sold. And now this also has to be worked out before a sale of Saab can be done.

In other words, there seem to be enough challenging questions left to make the administrators workday hectic.

Youngman won't give up on Saab, places new bid

Chinese Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile, which has been trying to buy Saab for over a year, has now placed a renewed and better bid on the Saab bankruptcy estate. This according to local Trollhättan newspaper TTELA.

Last week reports came through Swedish media that Youngman had been dropped as a bidder by the bankruptcy administrators. In from the wing came a dark horse later identified as National Electric Vehicle Sweden, a company owned by a Japanese-Chinese consortium.

The past week National Electric Vehicle Sweden has been reported to be the favorite to acquire Saab. According to one report from Svenska Dagbladet, the deal was ready to be signed last weekend but was delayed or stopped for unknown reasons. Sources say that it was the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) which stopped the deal from being closed on Sunday. Back in 2010 when Saab took a SEK 2.2 billion loan in the European Investment Bank (EIB), the NDO guaranteed the loan and took the shares in Saab Automobile Parts as collateral. Shortly after Saab filed for bankruptcy in December 2011, the NDO redeemed the loan and thus more or less took ownership of Saab Parts.

One might speculate that the NDO stopped the deal with National Electric Vehicle Sweden last weekend because National Electric Vehicle Sweden has no interest in Saab Parts and is therefore unwilling to buy the company from the NDO. Chinese Youngman, on the other hand, is interested in acquiring all of the Saab companies, including Saab Parts, and a sale to Youngman would therefore guarantee that the NDO recovers the money it paid when redeeming Saab's loan in the EIB.

With Chinese Youngman reentering the scene with a renewed and better bid, the NDO might see the possibility of a hassle free and quick sale of Saab Parts. As opposed to using lots of time and money to find new owners for Saab Parts.

Youngman's latest bid is said to be of a considerable amount and the money is said to be available in Europe. According to Dagens Industri, Youngman is willing to pay SEK 4 billion in total, including SEK 2.2 billion for Saab Parts. Dagens Industri also reports that one reason that the deal with National Electric Vehicle Sweden was not reached last weekend, was because the buyers tried to negotiate the price down. So just maybe the Youngman bid is an offer too good to refuse for both the administrators and the NDO?

Saab sale to be done this week

According to sources of local Trollhättan newspaper TTELA, the deal to sell the bankruptcy estate of Saab Automobile will be done this week.

The bankruptcy adminsitrators responsible to carry through the sale said early in the process that the aim was to sell Saab before summer. And now sources say that the sale could be done this week.

It is however uncertain if this means a finalized and done deal or if the negotiations need to continue into summer to work out all the details.

Keep Saab in Sweden or forget about the brand name

As reported here many times before, the use of the Saab brand name and Gripen logo are protected by a three way agreement between Saab Automobile, the aerospace and defence company Saab AB and the commercial vehicle developer and producer Scania AB. I have been firm in my belief that Saab AB and Scania AB will ensure that a buyer of Saab Automobile must keep Saab in Sweden in order to use the brand name. And now the CEO of Saab AB thankfully confirms this stance in an interview done by Svenska Dagbladet.

"We believe that it is important for a country like Sweden to have both research and development - and production. If there is a sustainable option with such a Swedish perspective, we will not object," Saab AB CEO Håkan Buskhe told SvD.

Saab AB will however not allow the use of the brand name if the buyer is not willing to commit to keeping Saab Automobile in Sweden.

"But it can not be a company which buys the brand name and leaves the country, then we will object," Buskhe said.

And Saab AB is very familiar with one of the Saab Automobile suitors, Indian Mahindra & Mahindra. Both companies are involved in the defence industry.

"It is no secret that we work very closely with Mahindra in different stragic partnerships. We know Mahindra very well," Buskhe could tell SvD.

He would however not have any opinion on Mahindra's negotiations with the bankruptcy administrators.

"We make up 0.1 per cent of the world's population and we are very dependent on export. We have to make the best out of what we have. That is how we look at Saab as a whole and how we look at Saab Automobile," Buskhe concluded.


Thanks to Flattail for pointing me to this interview!

National Electric Vehicle Sweden confirms bid on Saab

Yesterday the news broke that the Japanese-Chinese consortium interested in acquiring Saab has registered a company in Sweden named National Electric Vehicle Sweden. Now Mattias Bergman, spokesman of the company, confirms a bid on Saab.

"We can confirm that we are a bidder and that we are still interested in the assets of Saab," Mattias Bergman told Swedish news agency TT.

"We will at the present not publicize our business plan. We are interested in what the brand name stands for, the high competence of Saab and the plant facilities which are world class," Mattias Bergman continued.

"We will get back to the business plan and the number of employees needed in due time."

The consortium consists of the Chinese energy corporation National Modern Energy Holdings and the Japanese risk capital firm Sun Investment.

"They are the principal owners. There are other owners which we will not name at the moment," Bergman said.

Sun Investment is a Japanese venture capital firm which was established four years ago and which invests in renewable energy. The Chinese company National Modern Energy Holdings is part of the concern National Bio Energy, which is Hong Kong based and has 7,000 employees. The corporation owns power plants in China and is focusing towards bioenergy.

Youngman out, National Electric Vehicle Sweden in?

And then there were one (or two, or three?). Reports in Swedish media say that Chinese Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile now has been (or has willingly) dropped out of the race to buy the Saab bankruptcy estate.

Sources say that the reason for the Youngman drop out is uncertainty about payments from Youngman since all major payments needs Government approval. Youngman then follows Turkish Brightwell Holdings which dropped out in February.

This development would mean that we now are left with only mystery bidders. Indian Mahindra, which many times has been mentioned as a bidder, has never confirmed placing a bid on Saab within the final deadline. In addition, there might be one or two other bidders. One of these a consortium interested in starting electric car production.

On Monday the company National Electric Vehicle Sweden was registered in Sweden. The purpose of the company is "development of electric vehicles and vehicle components and related business." Member of the board of this new companys is among others Karl-Erling Trogen, a former CEO of Volvo Trucks.

"It's not just about electric cars, but also about larger volumes of hybrid cars related to a long term development in electric cars," a source said.

It is suggested that the consortium no longer includes Panasonic, but now a Chinese car maker, which could be BAIC, a Chinese battery maker and Swedish stakeholders.

But why shouldn't also this Chinese consortium run into problems with getting payments approved just like Youngman? Well, according to Swedish Radio P4 Väst, the consortium has its financing from outside China. Which of course also points to other stakeholders in he consortium besides Chinese companies.

If this consortium wins the battle, then it is bye bye to the Saab we know. It's said that they will probably not want the Saab Parts company, which would mean that they are not interested in the Saab cars presently on the roads. Maybe not even the Saab brand name.

Muller says speculations about 9-5 license is nonsense

Yesterday Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet wrote that Spyker could still be holding the license to produce the Saab 9-5. Furthermore that a buyer of Saab could produce the 9-5 on behalf of Spyker.

SvD and its reporter Jonas Fröberg is usually a very reliable source, but now Victor Muller, CEO og Spyker and former CEO of Saab, says that the story is not true.

"This is nonsense. It is something someone has made up," Muller told TTELA.

"I have honestly no idea where this story originate from. I have never heard of anything like this until the media made up the story. The usual nonsense," Muller said.

New undisclosed Chinese company wants Saab

According to Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri, a new and yet undisclosed Chinese company has entered the battle to win Saab.

"It's correct that for the last two weeks there have been four parties interested in the Saab business," said Lars Holmqvist, former head of the European suppliers association CLEPA to DI.

The four interested parties would be Chinese Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile, Indian Mahindra & Mahindra, a Chinese-Japanese consortium with unknown stakeholders and now the latest bidder, an undisclosed Chinese company.

"I do not know how serious they are. I still believe that Chinese Youngman is in the lead seeing that they have already invested money in Saab," Holmqvist told Swedish news agency TT.

Speculations have it that this new indisclosed party could be Chinese Qoros Auto. Qoros is a new car brand aiming to launched their first car at the Geneva Motor Show next year. It has been said that the cars will be produced by Magna Steyr, but if the company acquires Saab in Trollhättan, that could change.

We have reported earlier here on Life with Saab that a number of former Saab executives, managers and engineers have actually been hired by Qoros. And that would of course mean that Qoros now has a good understanding of the values and possibilities in the Saab bankruptcy estate.

Qoros also has hired former people from Volvo, BMW and Volkswagen, and the company seem to be serious about entering the European market with competitive vehicles.

DI's sources say that the administrators may start negotiations with the new stakeholder should the talks with Mahindra and Youngman break down.

Interesting days a head!

Spyker might still hold license to the Saab 9-5

Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet today has very interesting article about a possible Spyker come back in the Saab deal.

Spyker has apparently hired the law firm Hökerberg & Söderqvist to look through all the deals Spyker made with GM back in 2010 when Spyker took ownership of Saab. And now the lawyers have concluded that Spyker might still hold the license to produce the new Saab 9-5.

"I can not go into the specifics, but it could be that the company has a contract that says that it can not transfer this deal over to anyone else - but then one could instead turn to subcontracting - without coming in breach of the contract," said lawyer Lars Söderqvist to SvD.

This could turn out to be very important in the Saab deal as a possible new owner of Saab could produce the Saab 9-5 as a subcontractor for Spyker. But it could also result in GM buying back the license from Spyker to prevent future use of the license.

6,000 pallets of Saab parts for sale

It's been a quiet week. Both concerning news about the sale of the Saab bankruptcy estate but also regarding other Saab news. But here's a piece of good news from today. Thousands of Saab spare parts are on the way to the market place!

Logistics companies Trollhättan Terminal and DHL Exel Supply Chain have been storing thousands of square meters of parts and components since the production at Saab stopped one year ago. Engines, transmission, airbags, antennas, instrument panels etc etc. The Saab parts and components which were valued to SEK 234 million before the bankruptcy. So we are talking about a lot of parts!

"We have a 6,000 pallets completely full of Saab components on a surface of 10,000 square meters," says Anders Forsberg, head at Trollhättan Terminal, to TTELA.

"Several have shown interest. They range from individual dealers and to other parties who are interested in spare parts for Saab."

Let's hope the part you are looking for is on the way to a dealer near you.

Three become two

According to sources of Svenska Dagbladet, three bidders on the Saab bankruptcy estate have now been reduced to two.

Last week news came through that the bankruptcy administrators would choose two preferred bidders with whom to negotiate a sale of the Saab bankruptcy estate. Now sources of SvD confirm that only two bidders remain and these two bidders are Chinese Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile and Indian Mahindra & Mahindra. A third bidder, said to be Japanese Panasonic and Chinese BAIC working with Swedish parties, has left the bidding. But a return for part of that consortium could be possible through an alliance with Mahindra.

A factor that could put extra pressure on the administrators to reach a quick sales deal, is the report that Hemfose, which last year bought half of the Saab property company, will demand rent from the administrators from May 15th and forward. Rent that would amount to millions and strain the economy of the estate.

All this now point to a Saab sale done shortly and possibly within the end of May.

Two preferred bidders to be chosen shortly

In an interview with Swedish TV, SVT, Pang Qingnian of Youngman said last weekend that the Saab bankruptcy administrators will decide on two preferred bidders within two weeks and then enter into negotiations with these two bidders. Earlier the administrators have said that the goal is to have a deal before summer.

To SVD Pang Qingnian confirmed that Youngman wants to acquire the complete bankruptcy estate and that all former employees are welcome back to Saab.

In other words, hang in there folks, looks like a decision will be reached shortly!

Youngman bidding SEK 3.2 billion

Updated 10:43 with info from administrators' press briefing

According to Dagens Industri, Chinese Youngman has placed a bid valuing the Saab bankruptcy estate to SEK 3.2 billion. It is believed that this is the lowest price acceptable for those creditors with collateral in buildings and equipment.

Also Indian Mahindra is reported having placed a bid and being present in Gothenburg ready to negotiate an acquisition.

On today's press briefing, bankruptcy administrator Hans Bergqvist said that the aim is to sell as much as possible of the estate in one sale. Bergqvist said that also the Saab parts company is part of the sale process.

"We want to get paid as much as possible, and so there are discussions ongoing about the price and which parts a sale will include."

"Saab Parts is definitely included."

The administrators have however not made any assessment to see if the parties are able to continue operation of Saab.

"All the interested parties have presented a business plan and placed a bid which corresponds to their business plan. We have to believe that the parties intend to implement the business plan."