Saab is expressing frustration that approval from the Swedish National Debt Office (SNDO) to change its property and loan status now has to go through a European Investment Bank (EIB) ratification.
The SNDO said today (21 April) it would release shares in PropCo, the property operation owned by Saab in a deal that would allow a sale-lease-back arrangement and secure financing for the troubled automaker.
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However, the transaction needs the sanction of the EIB in Luxembourg, a move Saab says would have been better made before the start of the long Easter weekend, to give its nearly 4,000 employees piece of mind.
“It is a process that takes an enormous amount of time, it is in the hands of the EIB [and] when they come back we don’t know,” a Saab spokesman in Sweden told just-auto.
“We would rather have had a situation before Easter [where we] could have enjoyed a weekend knowing we have secured financing and could think of starting production.”
The spokesman added that with formal approval of the SNDO, he hoped there would be “little left to do” from the EIB side.
Specifically, the SNDO said it intended to release a part of the security not required to cover Saab’s present obligations, with the maximum loan amount from the EIB reduced from EUR400m (US$584m) – Saab has so far withdrawn EUR217m on the facility.
The loan will be cut from EUR400m to EUR280m.
A statement from the SNDO noted: “The transaction will secure reasonable consideration for Saab, integrity issues regarding the buyer have been adequately addressed and the payment to Saab will be made from a bank licensed within the European Union.
“The Swedish taxpayers will also after the release have adequate security covering the current exposure under Saab’s counter-indemnity, as the maximum amount that can be drawn from the EIB facility has been reduced.”
Saab would not confirm the “integrity issues regarding the buyer” referred to potential investor Vladimir Antonov, but a director of the Russian’s holding company yesterday (21 April) told just-auto he saw “no reason” why the businessman’s application to acquire property in exchange for a cash injection would be turned down.
An EIB spokesman in Luxembourg declined to comment to just-auto on the Saab situation apart from to acknowledge the SNDO’s statement.
