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Antonov gets green light for Saab stake

Russian financier Vladimir Antonov has received approval from former Saab Automobile owner General Motors (GM) to become a part owner of troubled Swedish automaker.

Antonov gets green light for Saab stake

Sweden’s National Debt Office (Riksgälden) has also announced that it has no objections to Antonov acquiring an ownership stake in Saab.

“We haven’t found any reason to deny Antonov going in as a part owner in Spyker,” said Debt Office head Bo Lundgren.

Part of the reason the Debt Office’s review of Antonov took so long was the agency’s desire to examine the many rumours about his background.

“There have been a lot of rumours floating around which have led us to do this type of investigation. But we haven’t found anything to indicate that he’s inappropriate as an owner,” said Lundgren.

“When you talk to him, it’s clear he has a genuine interest in Saab.”

On March 29th, Saab and its current owner Spyker Cars asked the Debt Office for permission to allow Antonov to invest a maximum of €30 million ($45 million), equating to a maximum of 29.9 percent of the votes in Spyker.

The Debt Office has now handed the matter back to the Swedish government, which must now make its own decision in the matter.

While GM issued a statement on Thursday giving its preliminary approval to Antonov as a part-owner of Saab, the US automaker included a number of conditions Saab must fulfill.

According to GM, it remains in active discussions with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and has reached a preliminary agreement with Saab that would give Antonov a stake in the company.

But the agreement will require “certain specific measures” from Saab’s side which have yet to be carried out.

In addition, certain “formal approvals, acknowledgements, and permissions” which Saab has not yet received, GM spokesperson told the TT news agency in a statement.

GM’s approval of Antonov is expected to pave the way for the EIB to allow Saab to sell its factories to the Russian mogul for 270 million kronor ($44.6 million) and then rent the facilities back to the auto company.

The Debt Office and the Swedish government have already approved the deal, which is expected to help Saab overcome lingering financial problems.

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CARS

Former Swedish Saab bosses appear in court

Swedish car maker Saab's former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson and the firm's former head lawyer Kristina Geers have appeared in court in Vänersborg in west Sweden, accused of falsifying financial documents shortly before the company went bankrupt in 2011.

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.