China’s Beijing Auto to assist Koenigsegg with SAAB purchase
September 10, 2009 by Matt Brogan
As we reported last week Koenigsegg will not seek additional Swedish government funding in its purchase of SAAB from General Motors, however, according to a report published by Reuters Newsagency today, China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Company will take a minority stake in Koenigsegg to further assist the group with its purchase.
It’s the second such Chinese-Swedish bid in as many months with Geely recently announcing its interest in Volvo, which has recently been put up for sale by US parent company Ford.
SAAB spokesman Eric Geers said of Beijing Automotive’s planned stake in Koenigsegg: “This naturally also offers fantastic opportunities for SAAB in the Chinese market. It is clear that this will help SAAB hugely. We are now completely convinced that we will be able to complete the deal by the end of October.”
Koenigsegg CEO Christian von Koenigsegg added: “This is an important step on the road toward a new SAAB. We have a well prepared business plan, an important partnership and we are ready to proceed without state financing.”
Mr von Koenigsegg declined to comment on how much capital would come from Beijing Automotive under the agreement, but said its plans for SAAB required funds in the vicinity of 11 billion Swedish crowns (US$1.56 billion).
Koenigsegg and its new Chinese partner plan to work together on expanding SAAB and Beijing Automotive products in China and other international markets, according to the report.
Beijing Automotive is China’s fifth-largest carmaker and has joint ventures in China with Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz.
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