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Saab bought by electric car consortium

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Saab bought by electric car consortium

Saab bankruptcy administrators on Wednesday confirmed the purchase of Saab by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs) during a press conference at Saab headquarters in Trollhättan, southern Sweden.

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"It is a great day today for me to stand before you and say we have reached an agreement with the administrators," Nevs CEO Kai Johan Jiang said during the press conference.

Earlier this month, the group of Chinese and Japanese investors said they submitted an offer for Saab in April, before the deadline for bids expired.

The Swedish-registered firm founded by a Hong Kong-based company specializing in alternative energy and a Japanese investment fund, declined to disclose the amount of the offer at the time.

However, on Wednesday an agreement was signed.

"Nevs and the Receivers of the Saab Automobile bankruptcy estate today signed a purchase agreement which covers the main assets of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB," NEVS and Saab bankruptcy administrators said in a joint statement.

Chinese carmaker Youngman was also known to be interested in buying Saab.

Swedish media have reported that Youngman placed a preliminary bid in late January or early February of about two billion kronor ($280 million).

Youngman has long been interested in Saab and tried to snap it up before it declared bankruptcy but those efforts were thwarted by the Saab's former owner, General Motors, which balked at transferring the necessary technology licences.

Reports have also surfaced that Indian commercial utility vehicles manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra has placed a bid as well.

Saab was on the brink of bankruptcy when GM sold it in early 2010 to Dutch company Swedish Automobile (SWAN) -- at the time called Spyker -- for $400 million.

Bankruptcy administrators said in April that Saab had assets to cover only just over a third of its debt of 13 billion kronor.

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