While one of our sources told us that the bid was rejected, sverigesradio.se reports that the receivers are indifferent towards Youngman’s bid.
P4 Väst can now reveal how the bankruptcy trustees for Saab have stipulated conditions which may stop a complete solution for the bankruptcy case, according to several sources.
– In practice, the trustees have set conditions which make it impossible to conduct a complete sale of Saab in one piece, according to a source with good insight into the process.
The Saab bankruptcy trustees have recieved lots of criticism since being appointed on dec 19, and now they are facing the worst criticism so far. Because in the beginning of this week, Youngman placed a bid on the company – a bid worth several billion kronor, and meaning production in Trollhättan. According to sources to Dagens Eko, it would mean Youngman needing to employ more than 1000 people.
But the trustees have been bordering on indifference towards the bid, according to a source.– In practice, the trustees have set conditions which make it impossible to conduct a complete sale of Saab in one piece, according to another source with good insight into the process.
The conditions contain, among other things, that GM must approve of a deal, according to a source.
The trustees are said to encourage bidders to bid for parts of the company, rather than for the whole thing.
– The trustees have no intention of selling the company as a whole, but prefer a split-up. It is very surprising that they have made this choice, and totally impossible to understand, says a source.
The two main courses of action that the trustees are entertaining are said to be that either Geely, Volvo’s Chinese owner, start a development center in Trollhättan – or that Chinese BAIC, in cooperation with Panasonic, start producing electric cars. But neither of these two options mean as many jobs in the future.
– If you don’t sell the company as a whole entity, you risk losing thousands of jobs.
P4 Väst have tried to get hold of the trustees for a comment, without success.
While we got the rejection confirmed we have to be careful with those sources regarding the plans for Trollhättan as there are many rumors out there. We’ll keep you updated as soon as we get to know more.
What…?
I don’t know what to think… But i think it is very good that someone is complaining about them!!
Not giving up so easy.
As to this report, I don’t think GM should have a say in the potential Sale of SAAB nor any other creditors.
First, Guy Lofalk screwed things up & now this trustee.
I still have hope that this report is wrong of if it is true, things get set up so a sale of Saab as a whole can & will be done.
Some of the requisites are stupid.
“- Bankruptcy trustees have no intention to sell the estate as a whole, but they prefer a cutting.”
If they intent to split it up, it makes me furious! >;/
Me too.
These trustees need to stop being so damn greedy.
Where is their freaking Swedish pride??
They should be ashamed of themselves!!
There should be all attempts to made for a sale of SAAB as a whole.
They should get bids from all parties interested in keeping Saab going in the future. Then depending on the best qualifications of each bidder & their plan for Saab & Trollhattan, pick the best one.
Not necessarily based on highest bid.
Splitting Saab off into bits is not the way to do this.
The trustee(s) are fucking stupid & greedy bastards apparently.
They will not get more money splitting it up. That doesn’t make sense.
Pride? Remember they are lawyers. Not much hope for pride, understanding, compassion, empathy, etc… .
This seems very strange since that is not what they said in the most recent press conference. While that press conference did not convey much information, didn’t they restate that they hoped to sell Saab as a whole? So what now is this about not wanting to do that and sell it in parts?
As I said we only got the rejection confirmed. When it comes to the other statements a source close to Youngman may exaggerate things a bit. So stay careful with those things.
Those other statements were probably given by a Chinese whose pride was hurt.
I’m not worried at all.
WTF? (pardon my french) Flabbergasted at this report. I pray that somehow this is an incorrect translation!?!?!?
It’s just a googletrans but not as incorrect as we might want it to be…
I’m afraid it’s correctly translated.
But it all seems very, very fishy…
They’re suddenly gonna abandon the goal of a complete sale?! Just like that!? :O
I can’t understand how it could possibly make more $$ for them to sell the co. piece by piece. Except that it would draw out the whole process of course and fatten their wallets!
WTF…
Right now I do understand that, SAAB’s failure in Sweden is not because of SAAB itself, but because of some games payed by somebody on it….
+1 it’s getting to obvious…
After today’s development I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Swedish Pride? Swedish shame more like. Never thought I’d say this, but I don’t think Sweden deserves Saab.
I* will still visit Sweden, but only for the Saab Museum now that it’s saved.
There is no such thing as swedish pride. We have “Jante”.
+1 from me too
Are they kidding ? GM’s approval even when someone is wiling to forget about them ? Sorry, but the Conspiracy Theory works for me. I wish there was something more we could do, as the rallies seemed to show nothing for those administrators.
Dave: I’m with you. I’m not sure about “Conspriracy” but I’ll put it another way: If this reporting is true, “The fix is in.” Our dreams to see Saab saved might be crumbling before our eyes—-and I have a sick feeling in my gut that we’ll never get the real story—-there might be big money behind the scenes—-wanting to squelch Saab—-and making it happen. Gee, I guess maybe I AM SURE about a conspiracy then. You’re right.
Well, there were 4 bidders, right? Maybe the trustees have another one in mind.
Or then, GM wants Saab to disappear. There are hints that go in this direction. Contracts have very recently been awarded to Saab aero and defense company and other swedish companies from US government and corporations. Just google and you’ll see..
Is GM paying this trustee to see to it that SAAB gets sold off in bits so that the brand dies for good??
B/c, I could see GM doing that as they are paranoid of any additional competition from anyone & if they can help in killing a competitor, so be it.
SAIC may be the same way.
This is bull
Clearly the trustees want a bidder to have a license from GM to make the cars. Perhaps they have rejected Youngman’s bid because it lacks those GM licenses, and are waiting for a bidder who can license production from GM.
The big question is what do the trustees do when none of the bidders can get licenses from GM. How does Youngman’s bid compete with a piecemeal sale?
“The big question is what do the trustees do when none of the bidders can get licenses from GM”
Exactly !
If the report is true, the answer is quite simple: they break the company up into pieces and sell it piece-by-piece.
And make more money personally as this will drag on until I’m in my grave—-and make less money collectively because I maintain that Saab as a whole, to Youngman and maybe others—-is worth more than the sum of its parts.
+1
Problem is that without GM IP there’s not much to build (current 9-3 for a few more years as the Phoenix will have to be rid of GM stuff – unless new licensing agreements are made), so the buyer’s investment will have to be higher in order to sustain the losses and prepare for a 100% GM-free SAAB.
Breaking it up could be the value-maximizing option here (not saying it is).
Don’t forget Swegov in this matter they have been known to rock the boat before….
What is wrong that somehow the people that killed Saab feel the need to kick to body again and again…
Seriously, you need to get someone who speaks Swedish to do the translations instead of using Google – the above is so poorly translated it even comes out completely wrong in several passages. The original article doesn’t say that the bid has been rejected, only that the trustees seem uninterested…
Which is a diplomatic way to say it’s been rejected.
I appreciate the input on translation issues, that is a very helpful clarification.
Didn’t GM say they weren’t going to license it to *anyone*?
exactly
Ugh, that’s not much better for us.
Thanks for the translation, very much appreciated.
I also changed the first sentence of my post, the article says the receivers are indiferrent and our source spoke of rejection.
Yes- much better translation though the news did not get any better. I am just so sad right now.
What do we actually know abut this? As far as I know we are all talking about new rumours here, that article is based on just that.
Let’s stay calm and carry on. It’s a long way left, we have just started.
I agree. The whole thing is just endless repetitions of “according to a source”… it’s just rumors
GM shouldn’t really be much of anything in this equation since they don’t want to play nice. GM’s small stake in SAAB should more or less be considered dissolved.
Revolt…revolt…revolt!!!
Although, Youngman wasn’t my first choice…
im with you!
The revolt thing not the youngman thing.
I am sure Youngman’s legal team must have been aware of this, before the bid. That this news has got out now, hours after the bid, has the smell of spin about it, and I’d wager that they were expecting this, if they did not push the news out themselves, to back GM into a corner. I have confidence that Youngman’s negotiators know what they are doing.
As GM is US Administration $ backed, I am surprise that they are letting GM’s crusade against competition in a free market global economy, or am I just naive?
The US Government is concerned about US jobs, period.
I wouldn’t be so fast to dismiss the US government’s involvement. GM’s current stock price means the company is in the hole big time. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see Obama’s hand in this. He is heavily invested in alternative energy (a losing proposition) and I think his administration would do ANYTHING to make sure NO ONE competes against GM. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I surely wouldn’t discount Obama, et al playing dirty when it comes to shutting down any bit of competition they can.
Saabdog: I’ve been chastised here before for a couple “political” posts. So I won’t go into any detail, except to say that you are spot on, 100% on target.
Excuse me for being overly simplistic, but I blame OBAMA for everything.Loser!
No, I won’t excuse you. Do you really believe that a Republican government would interfere in favour of Saab? Come on…
Ivo
Yes? No.
$$$$$$$$ and more $$$$$$$$$!! It is very clear there is something dodgy going on here. Youngman need to enlist greater Chinese government support so that GM obstructions cost GM more than the outlay in refusal of these deals.
Seems to me that the Chinese Gov could kick GM out of Chinese market if it wanted to.
Who’s the source and where is it confirmed that any deal has been rejected?
The facts, only the facts!
Thought the right thing for the Administrators to so is to wait for all qualified bids to come in before making a decision? Are they just putting up a show and wasting everyone’s time as their objective is already firm which is to get rid of Saab?
Well, I’m beginning to wonder. The Swegov might notice some of their other businesses are having problems, too. I’m rooting for Saab. My Saab 9-3s are going to last a long time no matter what happens.
What happens in Sweden shouldn’t stay in Sweden.
Just a thought.
I had hoped too, alwaysSaab, that would be the path they would take. Could it be that they are not accepting this bid in hopes of having higher/better ones from the other interested parties? I really WANT to be positive… but damn, it’s hard right now.
I hope better offers are coming.
As I said in an earlier post that parts of Saab have already been promised to other people. The report was rejected by the administrator of this site. But now it seems more likely that the story might in fact be true!
Do you really think they care about Saab workers. They’re looking for money. The parts of Saab have a greater value than the whole company in one piece.
Business as usual for them.
Sad, very sad… not Saab!
Does that imply that any offer that gives them (the admins and their companies) more value than having the former Saab as a client will be accepted ?
If so we, in Sweden, surely have turned the clock back some decades and from a social point of view erased everything we thought we know about socialism.
I think there are alot of params out there that we are not aware of. But yeah, i can understand your frustration and that things moves too slow.
Not very sure about “parts of Saab have greater value than the whole….” though as we are looking at selling a manufacturing plant as a going concern as compared to selling bits and pieces from the plant as scrap.
Just hope that the Administrators will do sensible things like what a professional will do.
Are those mojos are appointed by GM?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I feel that the Chinese bid is just not what all are looking for. No Government approval and no GM rights. 2 negatives that maybe the other bidders can overcome.
Let’s hope so.
The Hyundai Veloster reminds me a lot of the 9x concept cars, and it’s available today. There are other Hyundais that have some Saabish elements to them, too. At the very least, there are some Saab fans working at Hyundai.
I’m not looking for a new car, but if I was, I’d be really interested in that Veloster.
I thought the same thing when I first saw the Velociter.
If Saab doesn’t make it maybe I could get a Velositer and put Saab badges on it.
Just a joke.
I thought so too, until I read reviews that say it is underpowered and a bit sluggish. So maybe practical, but not a fun drive.
Everyone should know by now that the Swedish government will never allow SAAB to survive.
They really have it in for SAAB. It’s funny how the US bailed out GM and now SAAB needs help and the Swedes Gov.don’t care. At the same time the dumbass GM people are screwing SAAB. So SAAB has GM and the Swedish Gov. wanting them to fail. That sounds hard to overcome. Sad really. GM has the nerve to let another company go bankrupt when they got a second chance. You think they would have some compassion.
I think you may be right. I never paid too much attention to them till now but wow, what a govt indeed!
Everyone that has anything to do with the Govt seems to be pushing Saab into Geely’s lap for pennies on the dollar.
WHY?!!! Are they….?
Well, Duh. I mean, is anyone surprised?
The Swedish government needs to tell GM where they can shove it and get on with what’s best for their countrymen. GM, after all, was the one who destroyed Saab.
seriously. The Swedes should never have let the big ugly GM buy them long ago.
Then we all wouldn’t be here talking today as Saab would have been dead along time ago.
Maybe not. Maybe GM was just the one there first to buy back in the day.
There simply must be more to this story that we are not reading. The trustees have said on numerous occasions of the intention of selling Saab as a whole, with production in Trollhattan. Liars?
As for the GM thing that just does not make any sense. How can they possibly stop a bid when none of their tech would be used. Perhaps the “9-3” name? Let them have it, Saab can always go back to 900.
You should give some credit to the guys who manipulated the gas prices and credit markets, too. If enough Swedes bought Saabs then there would be no liquidation.
I sure won’t be buying a Volvo. Maybe a new Saab but certainly not a Volvo.
Sweden should get their act together. Call it their priorities if not national pride.
Why not buying a Volvo ?
Why do you think he needs to explain that…?
You tell me, i would like to hear it.
Btw Saab was managed during a period 97-06 by a group of people that got the name “Volvo-maffian” lead by Peter Augustsson. They got the name becuase they came from Volvo and it trust me it was more than 1 😉
I dont claim this was the right thing to do, Peter himself was obviously not the man for the task but still.
Hopefully its the fact that the handelers don’t want or trust YM. I for one don’t. What worries me is twofold, one, GM said they wont bend for anyone and two, I’m starting to suspect foul play with this whole process.
If I only knew this last year, I’d be in a warrantied Audi
Yes but you chose a Saab for a reason didn’t you? Audi don’t sell as well as other premium marques in Australia. Just a freckle above Lexus. Mercedes & BMW out sell them 10 fold. Once Saab is back up and running, they will also out sell Audi. (re badged VW)
I am hoping the same. Tomorrow it will be announced that the bankrupt estate of Saab Automobile AB has been bought by a consortium of Koenigsegg, the Wallenberg Foundation, and Saab AB. I can dream a little, can’t I? GM sends flowers and a cake.
dreams can come true my friend.
Could it be that the YM bid was too low and the rest of the story is YM spin doctoring? Possible? Maybe? Next.
That is possible.
My thoughts too
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1430236461001/eric-bolling-test-drives-chevy-volt/
Here is the Fox test drive debacle of the GM Volt.
When GM sold Saab to Spyker they held $335M in preferred stock. Under Swedish law, does the preferred stock become debt? This would make GM Saab’s largest creditor. If true, GM can block any deal without the licence adreements for the IT property.
Surely the bankruptcy took care of that liability?
In some cases in the US it is like a bond holder. They have rights as a creditor, not a stock holder.
Has anybody wondered if these guys incharge of the sale, for saab ,working and being paid off in some way for and by them f%^$#@#%^ GM ,just wondering ,we need to plan to go park all our saabs infront of the GM factory & stock exchange building doors & gates ,that may give them something to think about ,just my 2 cents .
From Swedish Newspaper (Dagens Nyheter), posted at 2012-02-02 19:09 Swedish time:
http://www.dn.se/ekonomi/sveriges-radio-bud-fran-youngman-kan-ge-saab-nytt-liv
If you can’t see that something dodgey, fishy, or downright wrong is going on behind the scenes, then I must also question if your eyes are open.
We need to keep up the heat, put the pressure on them, and make sure they know the world is watching.
If GM permission is required then it is over. Why even waste the time of people wanting to bid? Youngman has been douped into investing millions of dollars in money and wasted effort. I hope they sue GM in a Chinese court and get awarded millions in damages. I am sure a Chinese court will not look very fondly on a US company refusing to license IP to a Chinese company… and GM has enough assets in China it would have to pay up!!!!
I just read that the museum is to be liquidated after all… is this true?
http://www.leftlanenews.com/saab-museum-heading-to-auction-after-all.html
shocking and disappointing.. maybe Sweden should also dump SAAB fighters and buy F-16’s…then they can sell IKEA to Walmart… ….
No.
I think Leftlane are once again rewriting an article without knowing what they do.
Reading the “Detroit News” original, I get the impression that the writer wrote this article a couple of weeks ago, and it has been published now, without checking the current situation.
Seems that GM keeps their word about SAAB full liquidation. They are doing it slowly but surly. Now it is time to pray for SAAB Parts existence. Without parts, SAAB will not survive and will be a history very soon… Very sad, but not much we can do. We are many but not many enough to make a difference in this business game. We, unfortunately have been played. Trying to be optimistic, but today’s news kind of made my hope to dissolve…
And now there is one more “good” news about saab museum. So, someone decided to erase SAAB history from the beginning. Here you go, this is year 2012… Only one question left, how did they know?
I really hope it isn’t true, but i begin to think that GM has bribed the people who works out the bankruptcy of SAAB.
Now we know what Mats Fägerhag will do! Sad to see no more cars will be made Trollhättan!
What a rolercoaster of emotions in just 24h… Can i put à claim for emotional overload at THE receivers ? Strange behaviour. Backstabbing their own people.
Now the dust has settled a little bid, and some sources at di.se say that the bid was just too low at 2.2 -3.2 billion crowns.
Di.se also say that Geely is still the main contender! Not suprised Volvo/Geely has always been a favourite in Sweden. 🙁 I think the Geely track is a wrong turn and when Geely/China brakes they in THN will be the first to go.
GM would not approve of Geely anyway.
“In parts” are SAAB worth nearly 4 billion. If the bid from YM is 2.5 to 3.3 billion, it’s no wonder that they not accept the offer. It now becomes a process, now that the administrators had named what the estate is worth. This is just the beginning of a negotiation, and only one part has made an offer what we know.
Why on earth are so many power and people hating and going against Saab ??? One begins to think that there might be (to) close relations between Volvo-people and Swedish politicians … (?)