Saab company to sell Spyker to US firm

The parent company of the struggling Swedish carmaker Saab said yesterday that it has reached a conditional agreement to sell its Spyker sports car business to US-based firm North Street for ¤32 million (Dh158 million). "Swedish Automobile (Swan) announces it has reached a conditional agreement with North Street Capital, about the main terms of the sale of the Spyker sports car business," Swan said. Agreement The ailing company signed an original agreement in February with British holding company CPP Global for a sale of ¤15 million. But the deal fell through in June due to "legal disputes," a Spyker spokesman Mike Stainton told AFP. The agreement announced yesterday "is not a final agreement" Stainton added, saying "if the conditions of this agreement are not met, CPP remains interested." The sale's net result will be used to pay the Swedish car maker's creditors, said the statement. Relationships Spyker's chief executive Victor Muller will remain in his position and the "continuity of Spyker's relationships with all its stakeholders and clients is warranted," it added. Dutch-based Spyker produces between 20 to 70 cars per year at an average price of ¤200,000. It paid $400 million in February 2010 to buy Saab from General Motors and has never made a profit since its creation in 2000.