Bold and ambitious, Victor Muller founded Spyker Swedish exotic sports cars before purchasing Saab, believing in its return to past glory under his leadership. Confident in his abilities, Muller’s gamble on Saab put Spyker in danger as well.

Following Saab’s devastating bankruptcy, Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan for short, formerly Spyker Cars N.V.) have announced that there are talks on the possible sale of Spyker as well. On the other hand, if Swan chooses to keep Spyker, then the company faces the difficult challenge of securing funds. However, if Swan is unable to raise capital or if a suitable buyer cannot be found, Spyker will likely suffer an unfortunate fate similar to Saab.

Plans to sell Spyker were hinted in the past as financial firms CPP Global Holdings and North Street Capital showed interest in the Swedish boutique automaker. But, inexplicably, both deals fell apart without any statements issued or information disclosed. Meanwhile, Spyker is also carrying debt held by Tenaci Capital BV, controlled by Victor Muller himself and wealthy Russian, Vladimir Antonov. Making matters even more serious, four of Swan’s supervisory and management board members, Hans Hugenholtz, Maurizia La Noce, Alex Roepers, and Rob Schuijt have resigned after disagreements with Victor Muller. Seeking nothing less than a Hail Mary pass, Swan issued 2.5 million shares to seek more investors. Despite the effort, existing shares of Swan have fallen to €0.22.

While the Spyker was never a popular marque, its sports cars are a celebration of spirited driving, luxury, and attention to the smallest detail. As time and money runs dry, we may soon witness the end to Spyker’s brilliant and short existence.

[Source: Autoweek]

U.S. private equity firm North Street Capital will give Saab a $70 million investment, including an equity stake worth $10 million and a $60 million loan to the ailing car maker.

With Chinese-backed financing looking increasingly unlikely, the investment from North Street Capital, a firm run by auto enthusiast Alex Mascioli, will give Saab the resources it needs to (literally) keep the lights on at their facilities. The Chinese government has yet to approve the bridge loan being offered by both Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co and Pang Da, and Saab’s owners fear that full payment will not be received on the October 22nd due date.

[Source: Automotive News]

U.S. private equity firm North Street Capital, has purchased Spyker, after a deal to sell the Dutch outfit to Russian investors fell through. The Financial Times reported the news after viewing a preliminary draft of the announcement.

It’s unclear how the Spyker sale will impact parent company Swedish Automobile, and its attempts to restructure Saab, the legendary Swedish car company once affiliated with Spyker. The Dutch sports car maker was due to be sold to CPP Global Holdings, owned by Russian investor Vladimir Antonov.

Swedish Automobile wanted to sell Spyker to focus on Saab, and a series of deals with Chinese auto makers were also announced, with little tangible results.

[Source: Financial Times]

Another week and another sob story regarding Saab. The troubled automaker has just applied for protection from creditors, and is trying to avoid the bankruptcy petition made by the unions.

A once thriving manufacturer that made fighter aircraft, trucks and automobiles, the auto division of this 65 year-old company has been struggling ever since General Motors decided to liquidate its Swedish arm.

In 2009, Saab was bought out by Spyker Cars NV of Holland for $400-million. Since the take-over, Saab has struggled to keep the production line going and the much anticipated new 9-5 model has thus had trouble hitting the market place.

With creditors constantly breathing down Saab’s neck to get paid, Saab has filed for protection against creditors, so it can try to once again raise money and restart operations.

Saab CEO Victor Muller said in a statement; “A voluntary reorganization process will provide us with the necessary time, protection and stabilization.”

The plants in Trollhaettan have been quiet since June of this year. With suppliers losing confidence and workers waiting to get paid, it will take a miracle for Saab to get going again and to start making profit.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Poor Saab, it just can’t seem to catch a break. After negotiations with several Chinese automakers, it appeared that a deal with Hawtai Motor Group had been reached. Now that deal has collapsed.

Saab parent, Spyker Cars, said that Hawtai was unable to obtain all the necessary consents, as a result; the arrangement has been terminated with immediate affect, though there still is the possibility the two companies might continue discussions, albeit on a non-exclusive basis.

In the meantime, Spyker and Saab will continue to work on finding short and medium-term funding, which includes more discussions with Chinese ‘partners.’  In addition, Saab is talking with the European Investment Bank to complete the 29 million Euro drawdown on the loan given to it , as well as getting approval to sell and lease Saab assets.

Spyker said that “as soon as the EIB drawdown or other equivalent funding is confirmed, Saab Automobiles plans to re-start production depending on the outcome of discussions with its suppliers.”  The saga continues.

[Source: Automotive News]

Saab has been rescued from near-collapse yet again after an agreement was signed with China’s Hawtai Motor Group. The agreement will form a joint venture for manufacturing, distribution and technology between Saab owner Spyker and Hawtai. It will also provide $222 million in funding for Saab, ending the Swedish automaker’s halt in production caused by insufficient payment of supplier bills. The deal will see Hawtai take a maximum 29.9 percent take in Spyker.

This partnership will be beneficial to Saab which will enter the Chinese car market with a strong Chinese manufacturer. Victor Muller, Spyker CEO said, “We expect that Saab’s unique brand values based on its aviation heritage, Scandinavian origins and innovation-driven character will do very well in the Chinese market.” Muller also explained; “Saab is now well financed. It has secured its short and mid-term financing needs. That puts the credit crunch that the company went through in April to bed.”

Richard Zhang, vice president of Hawtai, said: “This is a great day for our relatively young company which was founded 10 years ago. The partnership with the iconic Saab brand will give us access to innovative technologies and an international network which would have taken us decades to build.”

On Monday, Spyker said it hopes to restart Saab production within a week after it secured almost $88.9 million in short-term funding. Spyker has also obtained a $44.4 million convertible loan from investment fund Gemini, one of Spyker’s shareholders. Furthermore, the owner of Gemini, a Lithuanian businessman will also make a draw down request to the European Investment Bank for $43.1 million.

Hawtai is looking to become a global leading automotive company by 2015 after raising capacity to 1 million vehicles, 1 million engines and 1 million automatic transmissions. Hawtai is the builder of private buses and SUVs. The Rongcheng based company was established in 2000 and since 2002, has built Santa Fe and Terracan SUVs under its own brand using technology licensed from Hyundai.

[Source: AutoWeek]

Having reported a first quarter net loss of 72 million Euros ($107 million), Saab‘s owner Spyker Cars has now said that, due to ongoing production problems at its assembly plant as well as supplier issues, the struggling Swedish automaker will simply not be able to meet it’s 2011 production forecasts.

In addition, although it’s been revealed that the company is aggressively seeking funding to help it through the short and mid-term, it looks like that includes three Chinese Automakers, even though, in an official statement, Saab CEO Victor Muller declined to mention any names.

According to Bloomberg, said companies are rumored to be China Youngman Automobile Group, Great Wall Motor Co and Jiangsu Yueda Group, with the possibility that Saab may have an agreement worked out with at least one of them in just days.

This follows on the heels of an announcement this week that Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov will invest approximately 30 million euros, in return for a 29.9 percent stake in Saab, a plan that was proved by both the Swedish Government and General Motors.

In a further effort to help restart production, Saab also said that it was raising funds from shareholders, “pursuing various initiatives to improve the group’s liquidity” in the words of the company, but declined to elaborate any further.

So far, since under Spyker stewardship, Saab has seen production rise, it sold 9,674 cars in the first quarter this year versus 3,060 during the same period a year ago, though clearly, there’s still much work to be done.

[Source: Automotive News]

Vladimir Antonov, Russian banker, investor, billionaire, and perennial runner-up for Most Interesting Man In The World Award, has been cleared by the Swedish National Debt Office to become a shareholder in Spyker, and ultimately Saab.

Despite possible connections with organized crime that any Russian billionaire is expected to hold in the first place, Antonov has “made so many valuable contributions to Spyker since 2007 as financier and shareholder,” said Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker in a statement.

Antonov, himself the chairman of management company Conversgroup, said, “the past months of speculations around me, as an individual investor and my businesses has been exhausting. Clearly this has been a disturbing factor for many of my businesses. Finally we have managed to obtain a clean bill of health and we need to move fast forward to secure the cash flow of Saab Automobile.”

Good news for Spyker, and good news for the long-term survival of our favorite Swedish rally-turbo builders—as long as Antonov stays away from those pesky money-laundering shenanigans with the backup cast of Eastern Promises.

It’s no secret that Saab has been struggling since becoming ‘independent.’ The company, purchased from GM by Spyker last year has continued to face financial and supply problems, which has stunted production and resulted in sales falling far short of projected targets.

As a result, the company, in order to help pay for parts and get production rolling again, has been selling off company assets and or/ re-leasing them in some cases.

However, another issue concerns the  outstanding loan given to Saab by the Swedish Government through the European Investment Bank. With the company facing a sizable number of obstacles, there are those who feel the chances of repaying back that money are questionable at best and some assurance is needed.

As a result, perhaps not surprisingly, the Swedish media  has been circulating rumors that the government had been encouraging Volvo (now owned by China’s Geely Automotive) to acquire Saab in a possible takeover.

However, Volvo has now gone on the record, stating that no such talks have taken place and nor have any been planned for the future. In the meantime, Saab CEO Victor Mueller, is continuing to look for other sources to tap into for capital, including a number of Chinese automakers.

Back before the Spyker deal went through, Saab had been in talks with China’s BAIC, which had expressed interest in buying the Swedish automaker, lock, stock and barrel from GM.  In the end BAIC simply acquired ‘old’ Saab assets, including all the production tooling for the outgoing 9-3. However, given the current situation at Saab itself, there might be a strong possibility that BAIC could get its hands on more than just former assets of the Swedish automaker.

[Source: Reuters]

In hoping to continue capturing a huge emerging market, Spyker has announced a special edition C8 Laviolette that will be available in China. Not many details have been revealed about the C8 Laviolette Special Edition, but it will be offered in a unique orange finish for around $735,000.

This is all in line with Spyker’s interest in the Chinese market, having produced a road-legal version of their GT2 just for China. In addition, Spyker has also announced previously that it would be building a China-specific sedan in hopes of converting China to their second largest market, behind the United States. Another special edition vehicle will surely help those efforts.