Saab Automobile Sees No Impact From GM Chapter 11 Filing
June 01 2009 - 10:57AM
Dow Jones News
Saab Automobile AB, the Swedish car maker being sold by General
Motors Corp. (GM), doesn't expect to see any impact from GM's
application for bankruptcy protection, Saab said Monday.
"What is happening in the U.S. with GM is obviously unfortunate
for people there, although doesn't change things for us," said Saab
spokesman Eric Geers.
Loss-making Saab Friday won more time to restructure while it
pursues a sale after a local district court extended the
Trollhattan, Sweden-based company's creditor protection period to
Aug. 20.
"The sale process for Saab is continuing and we are in talks
with two to three interested parties," Geers said.
He declined to name the companies involved in the talks and said
he expects GM to announce a new owner for Saab by the end of June
or early July.
Saab Automobile's Managing Director Jan-Ake Jonsson said the
company is making good progress with the talks and interest in Saab
is high.
"We are trying now to narrow it down to a couple (of companies)
that we will proceed with," Jonsson said in a video interview on
the company's Web site.
"We are looking, of course, for a financially strong company,
companies that have a long-term interest in Saab Automobiles, as
well as companies where Saab is a good fit," Jonsson said.
"We hope to select one of the alternatives and within a couple
of weeks we should be ready to announce who they are."
Company Web site: www.saab.com
-By Ian Edmondson, Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3094; ian.edmondson@dowjones.com