Russian investor says EU bank won't allow him to rescue Saab

[Steve McF]

This is like a soap opera - why is there obstacle after obstacle to this deal being completed?? 

Russian investor says EU bank won't allow him to rescue Saab

Automotive News Europe | July 28, 2011 15:00 CET

STOCKHOLM -- The European Investment Bank will not allow Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov to rescue Saab, his spokesman said on Thursday, just two days after Saab said it didn't have enough money to pay some workers' salaries.

The bank has loaned Saab money and therefore has a veto over ownership issues. The bank has not made any formal statement about Antonov's application for approval as a Saab shareholder.

Antonov has known for a few weeks that the EIB, the EU's long-term lending institution, would not him invest in the Swedish car firm, Antonov's spokesman Lars Carlstrom told Reuters.

Carlstrom said the EIB was taking its cue from the Swedish government. "The Swedish government has stopped us investing 100 million euros ($143.6 million) in Saab," he said. "They are ready to risk 4,000 jobs."

Antonov has not given up on Saab, however. Carlstrom said Antonov still wanted to be an owner in Saab and was working on a way to repay the 217 million euros the carmaker already borrowed from the EIB in order to be able to take a stake in the Swedish car firm, owned by Dutch-listed Swedish Automobile.

He said Antonov hoped to present a deal "within a short time," adding this was likely to be a few weeks.

Antonov has been trying to become a shareholder since Swedish Automobile, then Spyker, bought Saab early last year.

He owned nearly 30 percent of Spyker, but was forced to sell for the Saab deal to go through. To take a stake in the carmaker, Antonov needs the approval of the Swedish government, the EIB and former Saab owner GM. This is because the Swedish government has guaranteed a loan to Saab from the EIB. GM still has preference shares in Saab.

Antonov had to leave the original deal for Spyker to buy Saab in early 2010 at GM's insistence after media reports, which he has denied, of links to organized crime. He said he has cleared his name and that GM has agreed to his return to the deal.

Cash crunch

A cash crunch at Saab earlier this year left it unable to pay suppliers and has halted production almost totally since early April. Saab couldn't pay workers in June, though it later agreed funding deals that covered employees wages. It said this week 1,600 staff would not get paid this month.

Sweden's Debt Office said in April it found "no reason to say no" to Antonov. The Swedish government has said it was waiting on the EIB, while GM has given a conditional approval for Antonov's investment.

"We have been clear all along. When the EIB and GM give their approval, we are ready to do the same, " Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications spokeswoman Johanna Martin said on Thursday.

She said the government had not made any decision on Antonov as a shareholder in Saab.

The EIB declined to comment on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Saab said it was delaying wage payments to white collar workers because it has not received funds it had been expecting. When the same thing happened in June, unions initiated a process that would have enabled them to demand that the company be put into bankruptcy. Workers get paid from a state fund if their employer goes bankrupt.

Source: Reuters

[Steve McF]

EIB says decision to block Russian investor from Saab investment stands

Automotive News Europe | July 28, 2011 15:00 CET
UPDATED: July 28 18:00CET

STOCKHOLM -- The European Investment Bank said it will bar Russian banker Vladimir Antonov from investing in Saab Automobile as long as the struggling Swedish carmaker owes the bank money.

"The EIB confirms that the loan to Saab was made available under the condition that Vladimir Antonov not get the opportunity to take ownership in Saab," Par Isaksson, a spokesman for the European Union's lending arm, said on Thursday. "This decision stands."

The EIB, the EU's long-term lending institution, decided to prevent Antonov and informed the Swedish government of that decision in 2009 when Saab first applied for the loan, Isaksson said, declining to give a reason for the rejection. Saab owes 217 million euros ($310 million) to the EIB.

Saab was forced to halt production in April amid a cash shortage. The company is negotiating payment and delivery terms with suppliers and aims to restart manufacturing in the week of Aug. 29. It is also trying to raise more cash, including from Antonov who aims to invest 100 million euros in Saab.

Antonov has been the target of allegations of money laundering, which he has denied.

Legal action threat

Lars Carlstrom, a spokesman for Antonov, said the banker may report the EIB decision to the European Commission and will "weigh opportunities for legal action" against the bank and the Swedish government.

"The EIB and the government have pretended for months to consider our application to let Antonov in. This charade has probably cost Saab a billion kronor," he said.

Johanna Martin, spokeswoman for Swedish Industry Minister Maud Olofsson, said the government is not making a decision on Antonov until it hears from the EIB and Saab's former owner General Motors Co.

Antonov's investment in Saab would be in the form of working capital, letter of credit and shares, Carlstrom said. Antonov would cap his stake in Swedish Automobile at below 30 percent, Carlstrom said.

"We're not aware of any suspicions against Antonov, so we really wish the EIB would explain its decision to bar him," Eric Geers, a Saab spokesman, said today by phone "We would love to have him as investor."

Carlstrom said it "looks promising" that Saab will secure a commercial loan "within weeks" that will allow it to pay off the EIB, and pave the way for Antonov to invest in Saab.

Saab had been hoping to get the go-ahead for Antonov from the EIB so that it can solve a cash crunch.The company has produced almost no cars since suppliers pulled the plug on shipping new parts in April.

Union action

Last week, a creditor filed the first bankruptcy application against Saab over a debt of 5.9 million Swedish crowns($928,800). Saab settled the claim on the same day the bankruptcy filing became public.

This week, Saab said it didn't have enough money to pay around 1,600 white-collar staff.

The union representing the unpaid workers said it was taking action to recover the money, a process that could lead it to request courts declare Saab bankrupt. "If they don't pay within 14 days or so, we will seek bankruptcy," Unionen General Counsel Martin Wastfelt told Reuters.

He estimated it would take about a month for such a process.

Antonov has been trying to become a shareholder since Swedish Automobile, then Spyker, bought Saab early last year. He owned nearly 30 percent of Spyker, but was forced to sell for the Saab deal to go through.

Sweden's Debt Office said in April it found "no reason to say no" to Antonov.

Saab's search for funds has involved a sale and leaseback of its plant and property and deals with Chinese car distributor Pangda and carmaker Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co, which need Chinese regulatory approval.

Sources: Bloomberg and Reuters