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GENERAL MOTORS

Swedish officials in last ditch Saab rescue plea

A Swedish government representative is due to land shortly in Detroit to provide input to the General Motors (GM) board ahead of a Tuesday meeting where it is expected to decide the fate of Saab Automobile.

State secretary Jöran Hägglund of the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications (Näringsdepartamentet) is set to meet the GM top brass on Monday in what is viewed as a last ditch effort to convince the US automaker to pick a solution other than shuttering Saab for good.

Hägglund traveled to Detroit on short notice as part of a delegation from both his ministry and the Swedish Ministry of Finance.

When the GM board meets on Tuesday to formulate its decision, it will hold the future of roughly 4,000 residents of Trollhättan in western Sweden in its hands, as well as the fates of an additional 4,000 workers throughout Västra Götaland.

Saab CEO Jan Åke Jonsson criticized the government last week for not doing enough to save Saab, which unions also charged in even more pointed language.

Hägglund’s meeting with the GM leadership is an effort to sort out any remaining questions and give the Detroit bosses insights into the facts following the drawn out and now collapsed process with Koeningsegg.

“Another important mission to also to try to determine what sort of financial muscle the prospective buyers have,” Hägglund told Svergies Televsion (SVT) in a pre-taped segment which broadcast on Sunday night.

Hägglund has previously confirmed that there is interest in taking over Saab from several potential suitors, but he refused to divulge any names.

In the meantime, one name has emerged – that of the American investment group Merbanco.

But the interest remains only if it’s possible to avoid a new, six-month long process, Merbanco CEO Christopher Johnston told the Reuters news agency.

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GENERAL MOTORS

US judge rejects Saab bankruptcy lawsuit

A US court has dismissed a $3 billion lawsuit by previous Saab owner Spyker alleging that US auto giant General Motors (GM) was responsible for causing the Swedish carmaker's bankruptcy.

US judge rejects Saab bankruptcy lawsuit

The Dutch sports car maker filed suit against GM in August 2012, claiming the US automaker interfered in a transaction that would have allowed Saab to restructure and stay afloat because GM wanted to dominate the Chinese market.

Saab, a former GM subsidiary, filed for bankruptcy in December 2011 after teetering on the edge of financial ruin for almost two years. A last-ditch bid to raise funds in China, with the group Youngman, was nixed by GM over technology transfer issues.

“GM’s actions had the direct and intended objective of driving Saab Automobile into bankruptcy, a result of GM’s tortiously interfering with a transaction… to restructure and remain a solvent growing concern,” Spyker said in the statement at the time.

GM filed a motion to have the lawsuit thrown out and on Monday a federal judge in Detroit agreed.

“General Motors had a contractual right to approve or disapprove the proposed transaction,” U.S. District Court Judge Gershwin Drain said in a hearing in Detroit, according to the Reuters news agency.

“The court is going to grant the motion to dismiss the matter.”

Spyker CEO Victor Muller refused to say whether or not he would appeal the ruling.

“We’ll consider an appeal as soon as soon as we have the written ruling,” Muller told the TT news agency via text message.

Muller has previously explained that the $3 billion figure associate with the lawsuit corresponds to what Saab would have been worth had GM not scuttled the deal with Youngman.

TT/The Local/dl

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