Saab owner rejects Chinese buyout

Swedish Automobile said it has given notice to terminate an agreement to sell a majority stake in Saab Automobile to two Chinese companies and rejected their offers to buy all of the European carmaker. Pang Da Automobile Trading Company and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Company had "failed to confirm their commitment" to the agreement and provide bridge funding, Swedish Auto said in a statement yesterday. The Netherlands-based carmaker also found subsequent conditional offers from the two companies on Wednesday and Saturday to buy all of Saab "unacceptable," though discussions are continuing. "Failure of the Saab deal may be a good thing because Pang Da and Youngman can't save Saab no matter how much they invest," John Zeng,a Shanghai-based analyst at IHS Global Insight, said. "Only a big automaker has the means to revive Saab, which is not only debt-ridden but also having problems on their branding and technologies." Saab filed for protection from creditors in September, three months after Pang Da and Youngman Lotus agreed to buy a combined 53.9 per cent stake in Saab's parent for €245 million (Dh1.75 billion). The automaker has produced few cars since it first halted production in March because of a lack of money. Swedish Automobile fell as much as 23 per cent to 62 euro cents and was down 16 per cent as of 9.48am in Amsterdam, extending the stock's decline this year to 80 per cent.