By Christina Zander
STOCKHOLM--India's Mahindra & Mahindra plans to take a stake
in the company behind Sweden's Saab Automobile brand, according to
documents filed to a local Swedish court.
National ElectricVehicle Sweden AB, or NEVS, as the Swedish
company is called, bought Saab Automobile out of bankruptcy in
2012, but has since then run into financial difficulties of its
own.
In a document filed to the court by one of the creditors of
NEVS--a British consultant--Mahindra & Mahindra is named as the
auto maker about to take a stake in the Swedish company. When NEVS
bought Saab Automobile out of bankruptcy in 2012, Mahindra &
Mahindra was said to have been one of the interested parties in the
negotiations that preceded the deal.
NEVS declined to comment on the information, referring to a
confidentiality agreement between the negotiating parties. Last
week, NEVS petitioned a local Swedish court to extend a period of
creditor protection, granted earlier this year, saying that talks
with potential investors were close to completion.
In its filing to court, NEVS said it is in negotiations with an
Asian original equipment maker, or OEM, which plans to step in as
majority owner in the company.
NEVS has tried to revive Saab for more than two years. Sold by
General Motors Co. to Netherlands-based Spyker NV as part of GM's
bankruptcy proceedings, Saab Automobile has been in and out of
bankruptcy protection and produced very few vehicles in recent
years.
NEVS restarted production of the Saab 9-3 sedan on Sweden's west
coast late last year and had plans to build an electric car in
China starting this year. The plan was to eventually produce a line
of cars built off the so-called Phoenix platform, a vehicle
architecture developed by GM that was never fully deployed.
Write to Christina Zander at christina.zander@wsj.com
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