Summary – Spyker EGM, future plans and EIB loan approval

As we’d hoped, today events saw all the final hurdles cleared before Spyker Cars proceed to closing the deal with General Motors for the acquisition of Saab Automobile. At the time the deal was signed, the closed was scheduled for “mid-February” with several mentions of Monday 15th as a closing date, so hopefully it will happen on Monday but it should be done by the end of next week at the latest.
Here’s a summary of what happened today.
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SPYKER CARS EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING
Spyker shareholders approve Saab acquisition
The Spyker Cars Extraordinary General Meeting took place in Zeewolde and at that meeting, shareholders approved the plan to acquire Saab Automobile with an overwhelming majority.
Possibility of listing on the London Stock Exchange
From a news release shown over at Etienne’s Saabhuy blog:

“Today’s meeting went very smoothly and we spent a lot of time explaining the transaction in great detail. We also announced that we are currently investigating the possibilities of listing Spyker at the London Stock Exchange by means of a dual listing and possibly in the future in Stockholm, in which case the listing in Amsterdam would eventually be terminated. However, I stress that this is still in the investigation phase and no such decision has been made yet.

Listing in these countries would open up far greater possibilities for capital raising for the new company.
Delay on changing the corporate name
From the same news release:

We postponed the decision to change the name of Spyker Cars N.V. to Saab Spyker Automobiles because we need to reach agreement with Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab AB on the possible use of the Saab trademark in our corporate name. We expect this issue to be resolved at Spyker’s Annual General Meeting, scheduled for April 22 2010.

Here’s hoping that Saab AB play ball and don’t make this overly difficult. I could almost understand Saab AB’s reservations, but if they were happy for an American-owned company to use it, then why not a Dutch-owned company?
Maybe because the American company just had it as a brand, not as the entire corporate identity, as would be the case for Saab Spyker.
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SWEDISH NATIONAL DEBT OFFICE RECOMMENDS LOAN GUARANTEES
The Swedish government has confirmed the offer of loan guarantees made on January 26 following a recommendation from the Swedish National Debt Office.
The SNDO concluded that Saab’s business plan is plausible with acceptable levels of risk and that there is sufficient collateral to support the loan guarantees.
Following that news…..
EIB LOAN HAS BEEN APPROVED
Via a news release on the EIB website today:

EIB loan to Saab
Date: 12 February 2010
The EIB has confirmed the authorisation to conclude the EUR 400 m loan to SAAB Automobile AB in accordance with the terms and conditions approved by the Board of Directors on 21 October 2009 and to conclude the guarantee agreement with the Swedish National Debt Office, as the loan is subject to a state guarantee which the Swedisch Government approved on 26 January 2010. The EU Commission approved the Swedish state-guarantee for the Bank’s loan to SAAB on 8 February 2010.

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Today’s events mean that everything is set up now, for the closing of the deal.
The challenge now is for Saab to start building, selling and designing cars for customers. They now get that chance, a chance to do things on their own terms, which is what we’ve all been hoping for, and fighting for, all along.
Congratulations to Victor Muller, the Spyker executive and to Jan-Ake Jonsson and Saab’s management team for a another successful day.
Time for cake?

Related posts:

1. Swedish government approve guarantees for Saab’s EIB loan
2. EIB loan to Saab – approved
3. Saab sale update – 11 February, 2010
4. News release: SPYKER SECURES FURTHER FINANCING OF SAAB DEAL
5. EU approves Saab EIB loan

Tagged as: EIB loan, Saab Company, Spyker