Swedish crisis talks on Saab, doubts over Spyker bid

Swedish government officials and unions held crisis talks on Saab's fate on Monday as analysts expressed doubts about a renewed bid by Dutch sportscar maker Spyker for GM's loss-making unit Saab.The meeting took place just hours before Spyker's new bid was to expire at 2200 GMT on Monday."We have to try every possibility to save Saab," Swedish Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson told Swedish radio a few hours before the meeting, adding however that she was sceptical about Spyker's chances of succeeding in saving Saab.

US auto giant General Motors will not consider Dutch sportscar maker Spyker's renewed bid for Saab and is planning to shut down the Swedish brand, a Swedish newspaper reported Thursday."Saab's board had a short meeting yesterday. GM representatives were on the phone from the US. And the discussions were entirely about the shutting down Saab -- not about the new bid," wrote daily Svenska Dagbladet (SVD).GM announced last week it would wind down its loss-making Swedish unit Saab after breaking off sales talks with Spyker.

An unidentified Dutch billionaire is behind Dutch sportscar maker Spyker's last-ditch bid to buy ailing Swedish carmaker Saab from US automaker General Motors, a Swedish newspaper reported Tuesday."Several sources close to the talks refer to a Dutch billionaire," daily Svenska Dagbladet said.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.

An unidentified Dutch billionaire is behind Dutch sportscar maker Spyker's last-ditch bid to buy ailing Swedish carmaker Saab from US automaker General Motors, a Swedish newspaper reported Tuesday."Several sources close to the talks refer to a Dutch billionaire," daily Svenska Dagbladet said.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.

Dutch sportscar maker Spyker said Tuesday it had finalised the purchase of Swedish carmaker Saab from General Motors."The transfer of ownership took place at 4:30 pm on February 23," Spyker said in a statement.Saab Automobile and Spyker Cars would operate as sister companies going forward, both held by holding company Spyker Cars N.V., which is listed on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange, it said."We are delighted. Saab's future is now secure," Spyker chief Victor Muller said in the statement.

Dutch sportscar maker Spyker said on Monday that the outcome of ongoing negotiations with General Motors over the acquisition of Sweden's Saab remained "uncertain.""Spyker confirms that talks are ongoing, the outcome of which is still uncertain," it said in a statement in reaction to "recent press speculation about the Saab negotiations."Swedish television reported on Monday that Spyker has reached a deal with GM over Saab, which employs 3,400 people in Sweden.

General Motors is still talking to Dutch sportscar maker Spyker about the sale of GM's Swedish car-making unit Saab after beginning a wind-down of operations last week, a source familiar with the talks said Monday.Spyker is "the only one" with an "attractive" offer, the source said, adding that additional information may be available later in the week.A GM spokesman said there was no new information on Saab after Friday's announcement of "an orderly wind-down" of its Swedish unit.

General Motors announced a "binding agreement" to sell its Saab division to Dutch luxury sports car maker Spyker, giving an 11th-hour reprieve to the storied Swedish brand.As part of the agreement, Spyker will form a new company, Saab Spyker Automobiles, which will carry the Saab nameplate forward and avert the planned liquidation of Saab.The announcement appears to end a series of on-again, off-again deals for the Swedish automaker, amid intense fears of job losses in the Scandinavian country.