Sweden’s National Debt Office says Saab would be “very easy” to sell in case of bankruptcy.
The Swedish automaker has endured a torrid week as production stopped following a dispute with supplier International Automotive Components (IAC) and has not ruled out further “hiccups” as it fields calls from other suppliers.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The Debt Office confirmed to just-auto from Stockholm it had guaranteed EUR217m (US$307m) to Saab as part of a EUR400m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) but, should the automaker face more profound difficulties, it would be easy to dispose of.
“We are agreeing the risk, the EIB is lending the money, we are accepting the complete risk,” said a Debt Office spokeswoman. “In case of bankruptcy of Saab, they would be very easy to sell because it was a condition for the guarantee that Saab made some structural changes.
“So, for example, they put their tools in a separate company – parts are very essential because you have more than 1m Saabs out there and that is worth most of the money. And we have all the real estate in Trollhattan.
However, a Saab spokeswoman insisted to just-auto the EIB loan was part of a series of draws from the fund that it made on a regular basis and was not related to this week’s production stoppage.
Saab also maintained it had not requested further finance and the EIB development had been made as part of an “official application procedure” that was carried out routinely.
“The National Debt Office has no issue with this,” said the Saab spokeswoman. “They are confident everything is as it should be.”
Saab parent Spyker chief executive Victor Muller met officials from the Debt Office earlier this week to give assurances concerning collateral to meet credit guarantee terms provided to secure EIB funding.
