Spyker and former Saab CEO, Victor Muller, is pouring cold water on suggestions Russian businessman, Vladimir Antonov or Chinese manufacturer, Youngman, are the unknown backers behind his audacious US$3bn lawsuit against General Motors.
As Saab Automotive remains in receivership and is unable to finance the huge lawsuit, Spyker will fund the legal action in exchange for a cut of any award, should it be made.
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But it is Spyker’s assertion it has secured third party backing required to pursue the case that has raised eyebrows both in Sweden and the Netherlands with some suggesting Antonov could be the mystery financier.
“We have secured the backing of an independent third party,” Muller told just-auto from his home on the island of Majorca. “Is it Antonov? No it is not – Antonov has very, very different fish to fry.
“It is not Youngman – it is [an] independent who has committed to fund the litigation – they work on the base of anonymity.
“Antonov is involved in this matter in no way, shape or form, nowhere to be seen.”
Antonov has been surrounded by controversy from the moment he stated his intention to become an investor in Saab but it became brutally obvious the European Investment Bank (EIB) would not lend the Swedish automaker a single krone if the Russian was involved.
The businessman consistently struggled to make the EIB accept his bid to underwrite EUR30m (US$37m) in Saab despite being cleared by the Swedish National Debt Office (SNDO).
The Luxembourg bank provided a substantial loan of EUR400m to Saab – money it subsequently recovered from the Swedish government whose guarantee kicked in once the automaker entered bankruptcy – but previously noted: “It had been the policy of the EIB to not accept Mr Antonov taking part in the ownership structure of Saab.”
