The guys at Koenigsegg Group must be banging their heads on doors seeing all this effort and approval coming together now. Their announcement to withdraw from the Saab purchase, whilst a hard thing to swallow, should rightly be remembered as the catalyst that got a Saab deal done.
From Bloomberg:
Saab Automobile AB is likely to win European Commission approval for a 400 million-euro ($590 million) loan regarded as vital to any sale of the General Motors Co. unit, a senior Swedish government official said.
The commission will rule whether a Swedish guarantee for the European Investment Bank financing amounts to improper aid. Signs appear positive, said Johnny Kjellstroem, who is negotiating the case with the European Union’s regulatory arm.
“That piece of the puzzle should be completed pretty soon,” Kjellstroem, a deputy director at the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communication, said in a phone interview. It’s possible a decision will be reached this year, he said.
Memo to the EU: before Christmas would be even better.
That end of year date is going to be crucial because it’s dollars-to-donuts that any buyer – OK, let’s say Spyker – will want that EIB loan included in the deal. So that approval has got to come before December 31 and the earlier the better.
Eric Geers is thinking the same thing:
“Everyone knows that this month is decision time,” he said. “I can only guess, but I can imagine it will happen fast, probably before Christmas.”
This can’t come soon enough.
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