Have been following along the sad story of Saab’s continuing troubles abroad, as its parent companies CEO Victor R. Muller, whom I’m NOT overly impressed by - who seems to be taking on the roll of Snake Oil Salesman more ‘N more... Has apparently pulled another fast one upon his not so favoured business partner Vladimir Antonov, who you may recall has previously been scribbled ‘bout in;
Thus, as Muller tries vainly to save his beleaguered Swedish Automobiles concern and having previously done a deal to spin-off Spyker Cars NV to the ‘Rooskie Antonov; Muller has now continued his Shell-game by selling it to a totally unknown North American Equity Firm named North Street Capital. Hmm? Hold on a moment, does this sound familiar? Can you say Cerberus Capital and Chrysler? Then again perhaps this is simply a way to get around the European Investment Bank’s firm stance upon excluding Antonov from any direct dealings with Saab and/or parent company Swedish Automotive who are desperately in need of finances...
As its worth noting that the Russian businessman and banker is currently in control of CCP Global Holdings - who own CCP Manufacturing which currently handle production of the Spyker C8 Aileron (and all Spyker Cars production) of which an ultra-low production run of under 40 were produced last year.
Just a hunch as Equity Firms and Automobile Manufacturers seemingly don’t have a great track record, while Muller tries to stave off Bankruptcy proceedings while awaiting further cash infusion from Chinese Automotive partners who’ve bought minority stakes in Saab.
Then again perhaps? Just perhaps Antonov has tired of his continuous blocking by the EIB and given up on this avenue, as reportedly the sale will pay off the Russian Financier who Muller currently owes money to... While its also worth noting that the latest owner - Alex Mascioli of NSC is reputed to have previously competed in Indy Cars, although I cannot say the name strikes a bell with Mwah - having only ran across a reference to the 2007 Indy Pro Series...
