Ecclestone places bid for Saab
Bernie Ecclestone
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Formula one supremo Bernie Ecclestone has teamed-up with Luxembourg investment firm Genii Capital to bid for the beleaguered Saab company, which is being sold off by its parent corporation General Motors (GM).
Ecclestone, who is reportedly worth $3.7 billion, has bid for Saab, which is being sold by GM as part of a major restructuring operation and has partnered up with Genii Capital, which recently purchased a controlling stake in Renault's F1 team.
"It's a good brand that has probably been neglected by the current owners," Ecclestone told the Bloomberg news agency.
"We don't own it yet, so let's see what happens."
In a statement, Luxembourg-based private equity firm Genii Capital said: "Given an adequate and short timeframe for finalising its offer, it will aggressively work towards a successful closing of the transaction with all the relevant stakeholders of the company."
But, earlier in the week, GM CEO Ed Whitacre told reporters he wasn't confident a deal could be brokered in time.
"It's real easy - show up with the money and you can have it," said Whitacre.
"Nobody's come with the money, so we're in the wind-down deal here."
GM has been trying to off-load Saab since January 2009 and Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg, which had support from Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings, pulled out of a deal to buy the company in November, leaving Saab's 3,400 staff members in Sweden facing uncertainty.