Sweden’s National Debt Office decision concerning approval or not of Vladimir Antonov’s proposal to buy Saab property in exchange for a 30% stake in the automaker is imminent. The Russian businessman’s holding company – Convers Group’s – director Lars Carlstrom talked to just-auto about why he was so bullish about the automaker’s future.
JA: How confident are you the Swedish Debt Office will approve your property proposal?
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LC: We have been struggling and working right now – I don’t see any reason for this not to take place. The property [value] is based on having car production – if there is no production it is worth a very small amount. What can you have there in Trollhattan instead, a supermarket? It is quite remote, not a hotspot.
JA: Why is Vladimir Antonov convinced Saab has a viable future?
LC: The thing is, Antonov sees a very interesting business model for Saab. Unfortunately Saab has failed the communication of media here as I see it. Today we have a new 9-5, a new 9-4X, Saab has an updated series. I don’t see any reason for Saab selling less than 100,000 units.
JA: Why do you think Saab is in difficulty?
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By GlobalDataLC: The factory was shut down until last May. You should also be aware of the fact that mess with GM with the liquidation, probably caused damage.
JA: There has been speculation the Swedish government is looking for a market rate for Saab’s property, how much are you willing to pay?
LC: The value of the property is around EUR100m (US$145m) – I can’t comment any further on the payment.
JA: What stake is Antonov looking to take in Saab parent Spyker?
LC: What he is aiming for is ownership of Spyker of 30%. The process regarding a stake, the mechanism, I can’t go into.
JA: There has been discussion regarding Antonov’s suitability for ownership of Saab? Why has he had a bad press?
LC: He was accused of being involved with business that was not good. Several investigations were made and nothing was found. His problem has been that rumours took off in the media and were quite intense.
A Russian with money makes people suspicious.
JA: When do you think production could restart at Saab if finance is forthcoming?
LC: We are very optimistic that this will be sorted very soon – production could start after Easter.
