Banner

- - -

JOBS

EXECUTIVE JOBS

INVEST IN STOCKHOLM NEWSLETTER

SWEDISH WIRE NEWSLETTER

EMBASSIES/
CONSULATES
IN SWEDEN

RSS FEEDS

STOCKS

FLIGHTS, HOTELS AND HOLIDAYS

- - -
Investment opportunities

Tips from an insider: Five innovative tech startups

Tips from an insider: Stockholm tech start-ups

5 hot life science firms in Stockholm

Stockholm's top five infrastructure projects

Four Stockholm-based ICT firms to watch

Stockholm pioneers life science research

ICT startups offer investment opportunity

Swedish companies ready for exit

Five med-tech investment opportunities

Six cleantech investment opportunities

- - -
Rankings and surveys

Sweden tops English-language skills ranking

Sweden ranked world's best country to grow old

Swedish passport world's best for travellers

Sweden second best country for mothers

Stockholm climbs in competitiveness rankings

Sweden among best countries to be born

Fortune: 'Stockholm top place for startups'

Sweden tops first global Web Index

Sweden world's second most innovative country

Stockholm world's 6th 'best city'

'Cool Stockholm' most competitive Nordic capital

Sweden has (second) best reputation in the world

Sweden among top in Internet download speed

Sweden scores highest in 'Rule of law index'

Stockholm world's No1 in intellectual capital

Sweden the world's most ICT-competitive country

Sweden great place for moms – but Norway better

Swedes place 4th in English skills ranking

Sweden among top ICT countries

Sweden’s 10 greenest brands

‘Sweden needs to sell itself more’

Sweden overtakes the US in competitiveness

Sweden 10th ‘most admired country globally’

Sweden climbs in 'doing business' ranking

Sweden among world's least corrupt nations

Sweden's mortality rates world's second lowest

Sweden a good place to die – but Britain is best

Children in Sweden have best lives

Sweden the most competitive EU nation

Safe to do business with Swedes

How Sweden became an innovation frontrunner

Nordic countries world's most food-secure

Sweden the world’s best country – politically

Swedish firms among world's top brands

Swedish brands climb in global ranking

Sweden tops government ranking - while US lags

'Swedish model' outranks 'American dream'

Sweden among world's least corrupt nations

FIND EXCLUSIVE JOBS FROM €60,000

Banner

Spyker 'a very serious buyer'

The head of Dutch sportscar maker Spyker met Swedish union officials on Tuesday on its last-ditch bid to buy Saab from US car maker GM, as questions arose over Spyker's financiers.

Related news:
Dutch billionaire backing Spyker's Saab bid
Spyker extends its offer for GM’s Saab
Emergency plan for Saab's hometown Trollhättan

Spyker chief executive Victor Muller held talks with Stefan Löfven, head of the influential Swedish union IF Metall, the chairman of Saab's IF Metall branch Paul Åkerlund and the head of Saab's Unionen branch Anette Hellgren, Swedish news agency TT reported.

"We met with him for about a half-hour and he explained his thoughts about the business plan, including the financing, and how (Spyker) views production and development in Sweden," Löfven said.

"It was a good conversation and it is clear to us that this is a very serious buyer," he added.

Spyker renewed its bid for loss-making Saab on Sunday, two days after GM broke off talks with the Dutch group and said it would begin winding down the iconic Swedish brand.

Representatives from GM and Spyker held fresh talks on Spyker's new bid on Monday in Stockholm.

Swedish press reports suggested that GM agreed to resume the negotiations after the Dutch group addressed GM's hesitations over Spyker's Russian investors.

GM was also reportedly concerned about letting technical know-how go to Russia.

Newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported that Spyker's main investors, with a 29.3 percent stake in the company, Vladimir and Alexander Antonov, were no longer behind the Dutch group's bid for Saab.

Nor was Spyker's second-biggest investor, Abu Dhabi state investment fund Mubadala Development, which owns 22.7 percent, involved in the bid, according to the report.

Instead, an unidentified Dutch billionaire was putting up the money, the paper said.

"Several sources close to the talks refer to a Dutch billionaire," Svenska Dagbladet said.

Loefven said Muller had discussed Spyker's financing in Tuesday's talks, but the union leader would not disclose details.

"They have, after GM broke off the talks last week, revised the parts (of the bid) that GM had questions about. With that done, one can say that the financing issue is resolved to the fullest," Loefven said.

"Now it is between GM and Spyker," he added.

GM has refused to comment on Spyker's renewed bid.

Swedish media have also reported that in Spyker's new offer the company has said it does not need a European Investment Bank loan before the end of the year in order to pursue its bid.

GM has said it wants to sell Saab before the end of the year.

Löfven said he considered Spyker a good buyer for Saab.

"Yes, with the financing that exists. They want to keep production and development in Sweden with Swedish management, and the business plan is the same as that hammered out by Koenigsegg and Saab," he said.

Swedish luxury sportscar maker Koenigsegg withdrew a bid for Saab in November after months of wrangling, citing costly delays in the transaction.

Saab, which has barely turned a profit in two decades under GM management, employs about 3,400 people in Sweden. Media reports suggest a Saab closure could lead to more than 8,000 job losses, including subcontractors and others dependent on the car maker.

The Swedish centre-right government, which has repeatedly said it will not take a stake in Saab, is preparing for a Saab closure in case the Spyker bid fails.

On Monday, Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson vowed to help Saab's employees and its hometown of Trollhaettan in southwestern Sweden, home to 55,000 people, if thousands were to face unemployment.

Among other measures it announced public funding of 542 million kronor (75 million dollars, 52 million euros) to create jobs and growth in the region.

Last Updated (Tuesday, 22 December 2009 17:25)

 

Latest Jobs for English speakers in Sweden

Banner

Jobs for English speakers in Sweden

Banner
Banner
Most Read Searched  
Banner
Banner
Banner