SAAB in search for 5 potential bidders; Chinese company renounce interest

Posted: April 8th, 2009 | Author: Soeren | Filed under: Corporate, Dongfeng Motor Group, Geely Automobile | No Comments »

Swedish car manufacturer Saab is still on the search to find a new owner for their brand within two months.

According to Jan-Ake Jonsson, Managing director of the car company said that they have five potential bidders that they want to negotiate with. They already have some serious talks regarding the offer but Saab didn’t specify which bidder is in much interest on buying Saab.

Geely Automobile and Dongfeng Motor Group of China renounce their interest in SAAB, after some sources reported to Reuters that the mentioned Chinese companies are included in the list of the potential bidders. An executive of Geely said that the company did not hold any talks regarding buying the Saab car brand and Geely is not interested in taking or buying foreign brands. Meanwhile, reports are circulating that Geely is in preliminary negotiations with Ford Motor Co. about the sale of Ford’s Volvo vehicle unit, though reports again stated that Geely has no plans of buying the Volvo.

A spokesman for Dongfeng said that they too did not have any talks about buying the Saab brand and likewise, the spokesman is not aware of any bidding interest in the Swedish car brand.

Jonsson declared that Saab is trying to work out with private equity firms and retired Swedish workers who are interested with their car brand. They had negotiations with advisors of the Deutsch Bank to hopefully identify a potential buyer. They are aiming to make at least some agreement within this month or the next with a company.

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