China’s Evergrande is over $300 (£218 / €258) billion in debt and the company has missed interest payments, leading to fears they could default.
In order to avoid this, Evergrande has been trying to offload assets and one of them is National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) which was formed out of the ashes of Saab.
While previous reports have suggested Evergrande was exploring the possibility of selling NEVS, the company’s president confirmed this today. According to Reuters, Stefan Tilk said they’re talking to industrial partners as well as venture capital firms to find a buyer for the ill-fated automaker.
Also Read: NEVS Could Be Sold Off To Xiaomi Consortium
NEVS’ situation isn’t reportedly critical as they have enough money to last “for a good while,” but Evergrande needs to raise capital and selling the automaker could reportedly bring in as much as $1 billion (£728 / €862). That seems like a pretty lofty valuation, but Tilk said several investors have already shown interest.
The executive went on to say talks have mainly been held with firms in the United States and Europe. However, Evergrande is exploring financing as well as an outright sale so there is the possibility they may keep NEVs.
There’s no word on when a decision could be make, but Saab has been something of a hot potato ever since General Motors decided to part with the brand. Koenigsegg originally attempted to acquire the Swedish automaker, but that effort failed and Saab was eventually purchased by Spyker. This proved disastrous and the company went bust roughly a year later. Saab eventually reemerged as NEVS and restarted 9-3 production, before going broke and eventually ending up with Evergrande.
