Shareholders in Spyker approved the $74 million purchase of Saab
By Andrew C., 27 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
Saab Logo
The $74 million purchase by Spyker Cars NV of Saab from General Motors Co. has been approved by Spyker's shareholders two weeks after the deal was made a couple of weeks ago. Spyker's Chief Executive Victor Muller told reporters on a conference call that the combined company would delist from the Euronext Amsterdam exchange and seek listings on the London Stock Exchange and the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Even as Saab and Spyker didn't make any money the past decade, Muller has a target to be profitable in 2012.
Muller said that he has secured the $50 million required to close the deal with GM, with the remaining $24 million due in July. Aside from the cash part of the deal, the combined company would also have $326 million in redeemable preference shares issued to GM, $200 million in cash and a 400 million euro ($547 million) European Investment Bank (EIB) loan.
Saab rolled out only 20,791 cars last year while sales dropped to 39,903 from 94,751 in 2008. Nonetheless, the company has set a goal to increase production to pre-crisis levels of about 100,000 to 125,000 within two years. To achieve this, the company is banking on a new sales and distribution strategy. [via autonews]
Latest Auto Shows
