The ink has barely dried on Saab’s latest attempt to form a preliminary deal with China’s Pang Da Automobile and Youngman, and the Swedish company is faced with yet another problem as Russian investor Vladimir Antonov has withdrawn his proposal to buy and leaseback Saab property.
“The property sale is now being discussed with external investors,” said Lars Carlstrom, Antonov’s representative in Sweden. However, Carlstrom noted that the Russian banker was still interested in becoming a shareholder in Saab’s parent company Spyker Cars NV.
“Before he [Antonov] was involved with the property sale, but not now,” Carlstrom told Just-Auto. “The EIB has not come back to us – we have decided to pull out in terms of the property investment. But we are still interested in becoming an investor. There have been so many complications in terms of the EIB and Swedish government in the approval process, so it seems easier for Saab to sell the property to an external investor,” he added.
On Monday, Saab issued a short press statement saying that the “discussions about the sale and lease back of the Saab property are still ongoing “ and that Spyker will make announcement about the matter shortly, “provided that final agreement has been reached”.
In April, Antonov had received the green light from Saab’s former owner General Motors and the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) to invest in Saab and Spyker.
