Saab is reportedly in talks with possible partners about exchanging technologies as it tries to return to profit by 2012, according to the head of new owner Spyker.
Victor Muller told Reuters that ‘a large number of serious players’ had approached the company.
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He was speaking in France at a Saab dealership as part of Saab’s current dealer tour.
“Nobody sees us as a threat so everybody wants to talk with us,” Muller told the news agency.
He also suggested that there are things that Saab can help others with.
Muller recently told just-auto that he sees collaborations with others as an essential tool in making Saab profitable and giving it the ability to broaden its product offering.
Muller has also reduced his Spyker voting interest to avoid making a buyout offer for the rest of the shares, the company said yesterday.
Victor Muller transferred just under 1.3 million shares to a Cyprus-registered special purpose company, reducing his voting rights in Spyker to 26.8 percent (from 34.3 percent), Spyker said in a statement yesterday.
Spyker said the transfer was for the express purpose of taking Muller’s stake below the 30 percent threshold at which he would be obliged to make a buyout offer for the rest of the loss-making company.
In a statement, Spyker said the special vehicle had independent ownership and management but that Muller could buy his shares back at any time for the same price the entity paid.
“Any increase in the value of the shares will be for the benefit of Mr. Muller if the option is exercised,” Spyker said.
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