Saab Automobile would welcome talks with Fiat about a takeover though no talks have taken place so far, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
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Fiat is not among the 10 suitors currently in the race for Saab, spokesman Eric Geers told Reuters.
“But we are open for discussions. If Fiat comes into the picture, we would welcome a dialogue,” Geers said.
His comments came after conflicting reports on Tuesday about Saab’s future under a proposed Chrysler-Fiat-GM Europe alliance.
The Financial Times had reported that Fiat plans to include Saab, currently under reorganisation, into the new car group it hopes to form from an alliance with Chrysler and a merger with GM Europe’s Opel. Meanwhile, Saab itself told Reuters it was not in talks with Fiat about a takeover.
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By GlobalDataGeers had confirmed to the news agency comments by chief executive Jan-Ake Jonsson in a Swedish newspaper where he said the carmaker was not talking to Fiat, and that there were other serious buyers for Saab which was put up for sale earlier this year.
Geers said Fiat was not among the 10 remaining potential suitors, which have visited Saab’s facilities over the past couple of weeks.
“We now have 10 very serious interested parties which have visited us in Trollhattan,” Geers told Reuters on Tuesday. “What will happen now … we will narrow these down, and we are counting on a close [of a deal] in June, or the beginning of summer.”
Fiat had said on Sunday it would also evaluate a merger of its auto group with GM’s European unit and the Swedish government had said on Monday it had contact with Fiat regarding Saab a couple of weeks ago, but that nothing concrete had been decided.
Saab hopes to win court approval for an extended period of creditor protection on May 20.
Geers would not comment on Wednesday about whether Saab is under pressure to present a letter of intent with a new owner by that date to be able to keep the reorganisation going, but said it was important to show evidence of progress.
“To prolong the reorganisation period, it is important to disclose in more detail how far we have come. And, of course, the ownership issue is very important,” Geers told Reuters.
