UPDATE:
“I can’t comment now, but there will definitely be an announcement later today,” says Spyker CEO Victor Muller to E24.
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UPDATE:
Trading in Spyker shares has apparently been halted.
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UPDATE:
Victor Muller, quoted by Reuters:
“Negotiations are ongoing and the spirit is positive, but we are very, very tired,” Spyker chief executive Victor Muller told Reuters while in Stockholm, where he is holding talks.
“It is such a complicated transaction. It’s not for no reason it has taken so long. It is extremely technical,” he said. “It can go either way, but you can rest assured we are doing everything to close the deal.”
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UPDATE:
E24 have spoken to Jan Nygren, the former politician and Saab technology head honcho, who was one of the bidders along with Hakan Samuelsson.
Apparently he’s still willing to have a crack at Saab should the Spyker deal fall over.
I should add at this point that I got a quick message from Lars Carlstrom, point man for the Genii group, after their press release came out last night. He indicated that Genii were also willing to re-enter proceedings if Spyker cannot close the deal. If I can read between the lines, their concession yesterday was more about their own late entry, and a realisation that Spyker are the ones to get this done. It’s not that they can’t do it, but they were very late to the party.
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UPDATE:
Dealer call for 13:00 today has been postponed.
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UPDATE:
I love it when the Swedish press interview one another.
Robert Collin appears at Realtid.se, giving Kudos to all you Saab Support Convoy types, and other campaigners too, for letting GM know that shutting down Saab wasn’t going to be that easy.
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UPDATE:
A freshly tanned Maud Olofsson says “we didn’t do it” about yesterday’s frenzy.
In E24….
Maud Olofsson would not confirm that the government decided to guarantee for a loan to Spyker. Nor does GM give any information.
– We have not updated us on the settlement and we have no settlement to present,” said GM Chairman Ed Whitacre in GM’s press conference in Detroit on Monday evening.
Any information about Saab’s fate came not from the government during Monday afternoon.
– One thing I have learned of the tours around this – it is not done until it is finished, “said Maud Olofsson
That last bit’s definitely true.
Ain’t over til it’s over.
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So here we are again, waiting for the white smoke.
Dave R figured that the original red Keep Calm poster might be wearing off on people and forwarded this image.
Do as the lady says, please….
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You can bet your bottom dollar no news services will be premature in calling it as ‘done’ today, eh?
It ain’t done until we see the press release.
I’ll keep updating this post with new news items as they come to hand, along with a little perspective where I can.
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The first report of the day comes from Dagens Industri, who claim that things were all ready to sign when GM halted proceeding at the last minute in an attempt to squeeze a little more cash out.
To GM at a late stage re-addressing the funding issue can be in accordance with a DI-source due to the U.S. biljätten drive “an ugly game” to the very last attempt to bring up the price.
Whilst I’m no GM-fan, I don’t think this is correct (or the real meaning has been lost in translation).
We’re in the Stockholm phase now. The prices were most likely set before negotiation moved to here. This is about finalisation, IMHO.
We’re not over the line, but it’s close.
Victor Up!!!
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