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Koenigsegg countdown to seal Saab deal

The buy-out of Saab Automobile by the Koenigsegg Group hangs in the balance after co-owner Bård Eker states the company could withdraw if business is not concluded in the next few days.

Published: 26 September 2009 13:59 CEST

According to an article in business daily Dagens Industri the deal is at risk of caving in. “If things aren’t in place by September 30, then we are out,” Eker told Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.

Eker also told Swedish Radio there are many milestones to be reached if the deal is to be settled by Wednesday.

They include negotiations with the European Investment Bank (EIB) over a loan of around four billion Swedish crowns as well as discussions with Sweden’s National Debt Office (Riksgälden) to secure the EIB loan.

Saab intend to use the money to develop new technology in the areas of environment and security.

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Former Swedish Saab bosses appear in court

Saab's former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson. Photo: Karin Olander/TT

The pair are accused of falsifying the paperwork at the height of the Swedish company's financial difficulties at the start of the decade.

A third person – who has not been named in the Swedish media – is accused of assisting them by issuing false invoices adding up to a total of 30 million kronor ($3.55m).

According to court documents, the charges relate to the firm's business in Ukraine and the paperwork in question was signed just before former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson resigned.

Both Jonsson and Saab's former head lawyer Kristina Geers have admitted signing the papers but denied knowledge of the Ukranian firm implicated in the case.

All three suspects deny all the charges against them.

Saab's former head lawyer Kristina Geers. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT

Saab filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2011, after teetering on the edge of collapse for nearly two years.

Chief prosecutor Olof Sahlgren told the court in Vänersborg on Wednesday that the alleged crimes took place in March 2011, when Saab was briefly owned by the Dutch company Spyker Cars.

It was eventually bought by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs), a Chinese-owned company after hundreds of staff lost their jobs.

The car maker, which is based in west Sweden, has struggled to resolve serious financial difficulties by attracting new investors since the takeover.

In October 2014 it announced it had axed 155 workers, close to a third of its workforce.

Since 2000, Saab automobile has had no connection with the defence and aeronautics firm with the same name. It only produces one model today, the electric 9-3 Aero Sedan, mainly targeting the Chinese market.

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