Saab has been granted leave to appeal against its bankruptcy protection rejection, raising hopes the troubled automaker could yet find a way out of its financial crisis.
It is now expected the Court of Appeal in Gothenburg will hear Saab’s request to enter voluntary reorganisation this week – a process that would see overdue August salaries being paid by a Swedish State guarantee.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“We have been granted the right to appeal, we are welcoming that obviously,” a Saab spokeswoman in Sweden told just-auto. “The next step is they will look at the case itself and rule on whether the reorganisation will be granted.
“We don’t have a specific time-frame, it is up to the Courts. We are hopeful that a decision could be made this week.”
Any formal reorganisation would allow Saab protection from bankruptcy proceedings as it looks to secure further funding.
Two of the manufacturer’s labour bodies, Unionen and Ledarnea are due to have their application to declare Saab bankrupt heard on 26 September, while the blue collar representatives IF Metall had previously said it would decide by tomorrow (20 September) if it would proceed with a “painful” bankruptcy request of its own.
Saab notes it is using the period now to plan for any future investment, with particular emphasis on Chinese distributor Pang Da and manufacturer, Youngman.
“We are continuing our work as best we can,” the Saab spokeswoman said. “We are planning for what a reorganisation could mean. “Internally and parallel we are pursuing further financing but the next moment is the appeal of the Court.
“Youngman has known about our challenges and they know very well the challenges Saab is facing. Their interest is long-term as evidenced by the recent bridge loan.”
