Spyker-saab??

[DavidMorgan]

I am not at ease with this news...
Anatov is once again financing V.M.'s purchase of Saab.
I am afraid that GM will renege on the deal ...

I regret that it wasn't possible to use other financers until the deal was really signed and sealed as there were others prepared to invest.

Why go back to Anatov who has been discredited by the Swedish Sapo and the FBI. He could have quietly reintergrated the company in 6 months...

[IVR007]

I am not at ease with this news...
Anatov is once again financing V.M.'s purchase of Saab.
I am afraid that GM will renege on the deal ...

I regret that it wasn't possible to use other financers until the deal was really signed and sealed as there were others prepared to invest.

Why go back to Anatov who has been discredited by the Swedish Sapo and the FBI. He could have quietly reintergrated the company in 6 months...

I don't think you have anything to fear, the financing has always been clear to GM and the Swedish government, so nothing new for them. Or else they wouldn't have accept the deal. Plus this way Antonov is not a direct shareholder.

As mentioned in the article, Antonov has hired a firm to prove his business is legal. If he manages to do so, my guess is his loan will be converted to shares.

[spyker madness]

I was wondering: if Antonov isn't a shareholder anymore, will Snoras still be the sponsor of the squadron-team? I think there will be a new sponsor, so the new car should be getting new colors and not the bleu and yellow combo... Maybe the old color combo is coming back?

[Reddingius]

Well I hope so! Let's bring the Dutch Racing Orange back! Or perhaps, make one side of the car orange, and the other side Swedish blue and yellow. That would rock severely.

[IVR007]

Signing all the paperwork will probably be done Tuesday.

[amzamz]

question

"All this underscores criticism that Muller is better at doing deals than making cars, and the challenges that a combined Saab-Spyker will face. One market analyst called Spyker "an investment vehicle" that happens to make cars."

source Spyker will need more money to sell more Saabs | Reuters

What does that actually mean? I am not sure I can understand this. I got to know VM at various occasions, and I drive one of his cars... So far, I got a totally different impression. Maybe VM is not the right guy to turn Spyker into yet another Opel or Toyota.... selling to the average car buyer may not be his strength. But, my God, VM is a car enthusiast, a real "petrol head" we say over here and I would never believe he is only playing that!!!! Or, do I misunderstand something here...???

[IVR007]

Since this is still about the 'deal', I'll post it here:

From Bloomberg link to article

Muller Says He Plans to Reduce His Spyker Stake ‘Within Days’
By Ola Kinnander

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Spyker Cars NV Chief Executive Officer Victor Muller will reduce his stake “within days” after a takeover of General Motors Co.’s Saab Automobile unit left him with a 37 percent holding.

Muller plans to transfer some Spyker shares to an independent company to avoid triggering a mandatory takeover bid under Dutch market rules, the CEO said in an interview. Spyker will decide by next month whether to shift its listing to London or Stockholm to win more investors, he said.

Spyker, the maker of the C8 Aileron sports car, bought Saab from GM last month for $400 million in cash and preferred shares. Detroit-based GM demanded that Russian investor Vladimir Antonov get rid of his 29.9 percent holding in Zeewolde, Netherlands-based Spyker before allowing the deal to proceed, Muller and Antonov have said. Tenaci Capital BV, a company controlled by Muller, eventually bought Antonov’s stake.

The buyer of Muller’s stock will be “a new entity that’s going to be incorporated for the sole purpose of holding my shares,” the CEO said by telephone yesterday. Muller said he plans to own about 29.9 percent of Spyker while retaining the option of buying back the remainder later.

Spyker has jumped 48 percent in Amsterdam trading this year, giving the luxury-car maker a market value of 70 million euros ($96.4 million).

Muller has said he would welcome Antonov back as a shareholder if GM allows that.

Production Target

Trollhaettan, Sweden-based Saab halted production in January as GM started liquidation proceedings after earlier sale efforts faltered. Saab will resume making vehicles on March 22, Muller said.

Saab plans to build 50,000 to 60,000 cars this year and become profitable by 2012, when it aims to deliver at least 100,000 vehicles, Muller said yesterday as he was being driven from the airport in Gothenburg, Sweden, to Saab headquarters. The new 9-5 sedan should be starting to arrive at dealers in “about two months,” he said. Saab plans to sell about 16,000 9-5s this year, he said.

Karl Lindstroem, an executive from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., will start March 22 as Saab’s interim chief financial officer, Muller said. Saab didn’t have a CFO under GM.

Muller said Feb. 12 that he’s considering renaming Spyker as Saab Spyker Automobiles following the takeover, and moving the stock’s trading from Amsterdam. The company is still looking at which listing to present to shareholders at the April 22 annual meeting, Muller said yesterday.

Expanded Board

“We’re doing a lot of homework to assess the pros and cons of Amsterdam versus London versus Stockholm,” he said. London, while providing easier access to investors, “is completely overregulated and very expensive to be listed. Stockholm is a great market, I think, but relatively small.”

Investors will also be asked to appoint as many as four people to create a six-member board, the CEO said. The move would involve replacing three members, including Antonov, who stepped down following the Saab acquisition, Muller said.

Saab’s business plan calls for the introduction of the 9-4x sport-utility van and 9-5 wagon next year, as well as a new version of the 9-3, its most popular car, in 2012.

The brand is also working on a car with a “tear-drop shape, very much in the vein of the original Saab 92” that started production in 1949, Muller said.

“It’s definitely a very high priority on our agenda,” he said. “The feasibility of it depends very much on the success of Saab the next several months. In two months, we’ll have a much clearer view.”

[amzamz]

(no comment)

[amzamz]

"Gelukkig is suïcide is in Nederland niet strafbaar, want anders zou Muller levenslang krijgen" de Volkskrant, 28.1.10

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[DavidMorgan]

Victor Muller in Dagens Industri's weekend supplement

This is an interesting post from Victor Muller in DI Weekend
It was posted by "Börjesson" and it is his translation from the Swedish with his comments:

There's a fairly extensive interview with Victor Muller in DI Weekend, Dagens Industri's weekend supplement, which comes with Friday's DI. It's mostly a portrait of the man and his life so far, more than specifically about VM's involvement in Saab, but it's interesting nonetheless. A few excerpts (in my translation):
...
[This snippet is preceded by a description of how Spyker were on the verge of bankruptcy in 2007, after buying the Midland F1 team.]
It was Russian Vladimir Antonov who became the saviour of Spyker Cars and Victor Muller. Two years earlier, they had become acquainted during a 24 hour race in Le Mans. Vladimir Antonov's Ferrari team were in the pitbox next to Spyker Cars. Antonov and Muller liked each other from the start. Now when it had become obvious that Spyker Cars was in really serious trouble, Vladimir Antonov called Victor Muller up and said:
"I think you need a little help."
"Are you kidding?" Victor Muller answered.
They concluded an agreement in the course of an afternoon. 21 days later, the whole deal was completed. Vladimir Antonov saved the company and received 30 percent of Spyker Cars.
When Vladimir Antonov is mentioned, Victor Muller gets upset.
"He is a good friend and an honest and reliable man. Here he comes along and makes the whole transaction of saving Saab possible, and by way of thanks, he gets his reputation destroyed. He is portrayed as a criminal and a money-launderer. I mean, really! It really pains me how he's been treated. I want him cleared," Victor Muller says.
...
When the deal between Saab and Koenigsegg fell apart on the 24th of October last year, Victor Muller saw his opportunity.
The following day, he sent an e-mail to GM's vice CEO Bob Lutz, whom he happens to know.
"I told Vladimir Antonov: 'It has never taken Bob Lutz longer than 13 minutes to answer one of my mails. This guy is on the ball all the time.' Eight minutes later Bob's answer came: 'Great that you are interested. I will connect you with the guys who are in charge of the sale of Saab. Good luck!'
"And the rest is history," says Victor Muller contentedly.
...
"I live pretty healthily. I neither smoke nor drink, so I can take quite a bit of stress. But this was beyond belief. The whole deal was so complicated, it was like playing chess on 16 boards at the same time."
...
It started out well, but in the middle of December, all hell broke loose. GM suddenly got cold feet regarding Vladimir Antonov, refused to have him involved in the deal and announced that Saab would be put into liquidation. And Victor Muller had really big problems.
"It was awful. Awful. I was like a damned psychiatrist, having to calm everyone down. I tried to get GM to calm down, Antonov who was shattered to calm down, the government to calm down, the European Investment Bank to calm down. It was insane."
"We were only five people in my team, and every time in the process that we solved a problem, two new ones appeared. When we solved those, four new ones appeared, and so it went on."
"Sometimes when it's so incredibly pressured, you just have to laugh. We used to joke within our group, and also with GM, and say: "You couldn't make this **** up, even if you tried."
Victor Muller's endurance was severely put to the test. When the project seemed to collapse and everybody else was ready to throw in the towel, he said: "Let's sleep on it." The next day, he came up with a solution.
When the purchase was done and the deal was to be celebrated at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Victor Muller got a top hat with a live rabbit as a present from his team.
"They felt that I had pulled rabbits out of hats at least ten times during the process. And I suppose I did. But the thing is, every time you manage to pull a rabbit out of a hat, the more other people start to believe that it's actually possible. And I managed to make my team believe in the deal, otherwise I would never have pulled it off," he says.
The rabbit's name is Silvertass [or Silverpaw, or maybe the Dutch equivalent, the text doesn't make this clear] and it will soon be shipped home to the Muller kids, who will look after it. It has great symbolic value for Victor Muller.
...
Maybe the victory is all the sweeter considering how hard he had to struggle.
"The whole process was enormously painful for me, but that's still nothing compared to the pain that Saab's management, employees, subcontractors and everyone connected to the operations have had to endure. I was only involved in the deal for three months, and I could have left it all and gone back to my normal life. But their fates hinged on that car factory. And we knew that if we let the deal go even for a second, then Saab would go down."
But it did work out. On YouTube, there's a clip showing how, on the day after the purchase of Saab buy Spyker Cars came through, the Saab workers in Trollhättan praise him and Saab's CEO Jan Åke Jonsson.
"I was so glad that Jan Åke would speak first, because I couldn't. I had a big lump in my throat and we both had tears in our eyes. That was a moment that I will live on for a long time."
...
Victor Muller hopes that from now on, he will be a more present father and husband than he has been for the last three months.
"Nonsense," I think.
Victor Muller goes quiet, and it seems as if he heard my thoughts.
"You must realize that living in the fast lane like I do is addictive. But in a good way. Through Spyker Cars, I get to meet rock stars and the most amazing people, and I find myself in many unusual situations. Sometimes, they're very much fun, and at other times they're extremely complicated. But it's never ever boring. My life is everything but boring. I'm having the time of my life. I always have."

[amzamz]

I am sure our Dutch colleagues have all seen this one! Comment: "spijker" is Dutch and means "nail". "voor" means "before" and "na" means "after".
I guess, IVR007's standard sentence is particularly true for The Netherlands: "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do " In that sense, Victor Muller is going to DO IT! I wish everyone involved the best of luck!

[Reddingius]

and the "'t is een wonder!" bit means "It's a miracle!"

the crossed o refers to Saab being swedish, in dutch they don't do that sort of thing. (no umlauts either)

[IVR007]

I haven't seen that one yet, let's hope Muller is indeed going to, as amzamz's license plate says, DO IT!

One remark, there is no crossed o in Swedish (in Norway and Denmark there is): in Sweden you do have å, ä and ö.

[amzamz]

....let's hope Muller is indeed going to, as amzamz's license plate says, DO IT!

... there is the deal: VM can have the "DO IT 430" number plate including my car #045. I'll swap it 1:1 against the first Aileron Cabriolet on the road! I would promise to run it 100,000km in 5 years, to advertise Spyker in Europe, and to turn up for shows to be named...

I have actually asked Victor last time I saw him, but he didn't reply yet!

[SpykerOwner]

... there is the deal: VM can have the "DO IT 430" number plate including my car #045. I'll swap it 1:1 against the first Aileron Cabriolet on the road!

I have actually asked Victor last time I saw him, but he didn't reply yet!

VM knows you're kidding as you can't live without the pureness of 045#