As a follow up to the information about setting up a Swedish division of his Latvian bank Latvijas Krajbanka in Stockholm, Vladimir Antonov was interviewed by Reuters today and said he wants to get back into the Spyker group (as in the one that owns Saab, not the car division that he bought a month ago). Article after the break.
*UPDATE*: There’s a new opening on Spyker’s Supervisory Board as of Monday, food for thought.
SPYKER CARS N.V. ANNOUNCES CHANGE IN SUPERVISORY BOARD
Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 21 March 2011 – Today Spyker Cars N.V. (Spyker) announces the resignation of Mr. Pieter Heerema with immediate effect as member of the Supervisory Board of Spyker for personal reasons.
The Management and Supervisory Board thank Mr. Heerema for his contribution and anticipate that a new member will be proposed for appointment by Spyker’s shareholders’ meeting in the foreseeable future.
SAAB-ANTONOV/ (UPDATE 2) (CORRECTED)(Corrects figure in first bullet point and eighth paragraph to 50 million euros from 15 million)
* Vladimir Antonov can invest up to 50 million euros
* Spoken with General Motors, talking with Swedish state
* Antonov was forced out of original Spyker deal to buy Saab
* Spyker shares up 4.3 percent, outperform index
By Nerijus Adomaitis and Aaron Gray-Block
VILNIUS/AMSTERDAM, March 24 (Reuters) – Russian banker and businessman Vladimir Antonov is aiming to return as a near 30 percent shareholder in loss-making Dutch group Spyker, which owns ailing Swedish carmaker Saab.
Antonov was originally part of Spyker’s acquisition of Saab from General Motors but quit the deal after facing allegations of money laundering, which he denied.
He has said independent investigations have cleared his name.
“We are discussing currently this opportunity with the Swedish government … We already had a 29.9 percent stake, so we would like to restore this,” Antonov told a news conference on Thursday in the capital of Lithuania, where he was outlining plans for his Snoras Bank group.
Spyker has struggled to make money and analysts say it needs a long-term strategic investor to restore Saab’s fortunes.
Antonov said the issue of his return to Saab had already been settled with General Motors, which has redeemable preference shares in Saab, and he was now in discussions with the Swedish state, which has guaranteed a 400 million euro EIB loan to Saab.
“I expect the decision to be taken within a few months,” he added. He said he could take the stake in Spyker by buying shares from a new issue and some existing shares.
“I would plan to invest up to 50 million euros, but it still remains to be seen how much cash they (Saab) would need.”
MORE THAN WELCOME
Asked about the potential deal, Spyker Cars Chief Executive Victor Muller, who has had close and complex financial dealings with Antonov in the past, said the Russian would be “very welcome” as a shareholder.
“I surely hope it’s going to happen. He would be more than welcome and I know he is doing everything possible to achieve this and I fully support his efforts,” Muller told Reuters.
Muller declined to detail the possible structure of a deal and would not comment on Antonov’s talks with GM or the Swedish government.
GM also declined to comment.
Shares in Spyker, a volatile stock, bounced up and down on the news and were up 4.3 percent at 4.87 euros at 1507 GMT to outperform the Amsterdam small cap index which was up 0.6 percent.
Spyker said last month it was selling off its luxury sports car business to Antonov to focus on Saab.
The listed parent will be renamed in May, Muller has said, and would probably include Saab in its new name, with a listing in Stockholm still on the cards.
Spyker has forecast Saab sales of 80,000 vehicles this year and 120,000 in 2012 after selling 31,696 cars in 2010.
Antonov, who helped fund Spyker’s acquisition of Saab last year, said in a newspaper interview that he saw Saab selling 60,000 to 65,000 vehicles this year, well below target.
Speaking in Vilnius, he said Saab had enough cash if it managed to sell the number of cars it was targeting.
“But … it would be good to have a liquidity pillow, and, I think, those 15 million euros would be enough,” he added. (Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Writing by Patrick Lannin; Editing by David Cowell)
I know some people here like Antonov, and that he appears on this site from time to time, but I have to say that I don’t like his involvement. It’s one thing to be an investor, it’s another thing to be an attention whore running to the press or opening your mouth every chance you have.
We don’t actually know if he’s the one who went to Reuters or they’re the ones who went to him. I understand your trepidation though, and I’m hoping he’ll maintain a lower profile as time goes on. As a related note, it gives me confidence in Saab’s future knowing he’s behind them, and when I was recently getting my 9-3 serviced at my dealer and talking with a potential 9-5 customer weary about buying a Saab because they might “run out of money” in his words, it was nice to be able to mention Vladimir as another investor and the confidence he has in Saab’s future. So in that respect, I’m glad he’s been so free with the information. Just my take.
I absolutely understand your comment GML but neither Antonov nor SU deserves expressive rudeness.
GML-
As much as I’d like to agree with you, it’s usually in the Russian/Soviet blood to not sugarcoat things, and V.A. is Russian. I should know this, considering my mom immigrated to the US from the former Soviet Union, and she never sugarcoats things. She was flabbergasted by the amount of sugarcoating taking place in society in the US. And I’m her son, and I don’t sugarcoat things either. My mom’s friends from the former Soviet Union also don’t sugarcoat things, so…
If it’s his opinion, he sure as hell won’t sugarcoat it. I don’t, and I don’t believe I know of any Russian/former Soviet who ever did.
Cultural differences in action, right there. 😀
So, Jake……what are you really trying to say? 😀
That Antonov will serve the truth, and not in a soft way, and that what he’s saying, unfortunately, may just be accurate.
*”truth” should have been “opinion.”*
Oh, I got what you meant. I was just being facetious. 🙂
I figured; I just wanted to be sure…
I agree with Jake. I’ve been in contact with Russians for a certain project, and you go to meet them with your presentation rehearsed and nicely combed hair and everything which is important in Western busniness practice. What follows is a chat about anything but work, a visit to the bar, and the last thing you hear before passing out from vodka intoxication is “I like your face, let’s do business”.
Mind you, the serious ones are anything but amateurs. They know their stuff.
Just for the record, put me on the list of people who are officially sick of seeing “loss-making” and “ailing” as adjectives used by journalists to describe Saab/Spyker.
Unfortunately, until Saab actually turns a profit, they will keep using those terms.
We all know that after the brief shutdown and sale of Saab that it was going to take a couple of years to get back to making a profit, but technically, “loss-making” is still factual….”aiing”, not so much as compared to last year.
+1!
Those journalists can be kind of ‘quirky’ 😉
“Just for the record, put me on the list of people who are officially sick of seeing “loss-making” and “ailing” as adjectives used by journalists to describe Saab/Spyker.”
“Those journalists can be kind of ‘quirky’”
+1
Let the man in already. Saab-Spyker needs the cash. And it appears he was unfairly characterized as a money-launderer.
Now in Autonews:
http://europe.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110324/ANE/303249807/1198
That article mentions Lars carlström, the man who was with genii trying to buy Saab. He is apparently now a spokesman for VA.
I went to Lithuania this weekend, the country where Antonov owns banks. On the front page of Friday’s Lithuanian business news paper (looked like Dagens Industri), there was one headline only and it said “Antonov clean” (waitress asked for translation). Full page article “text only” which I couldn’t read since I don’t get the language.