Brussels Approved Swedish Guarantee of Loan to Saab

By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor

Amsterdam NL February 8, 2010; Spyker Cars CEO Victor Muller and GM can proceed with concluding the take over of Saab. Today the European Commission announced to have no objection to the Swedish guarantee of the 400 million loan that Spyker gets of the European I

nvestment Bank EIB for the take over of Saab. The Dutch European Commissioner for competition Neelie Kroes considers the guarantee to be of help in the execution of Saab’s business plan, without creating distortions of competition. The new Spyker Saab Automobiles needs the money for a project to further improve safety and fuel economy of its cars. The company needs a billion euro before making a profit, as Muller expect to make as from 2012.

The positive decision is one of the last of mrs. Kroes in this role, because tomorrow she will be installed as the Commissioner for the Digital Agenda.

The news had a positive effect on the Spyker share, that went up 3.5 per cent today to 3.35 euro.