Spyker completes Saab deal

Spyker and General Motors have completed the final paperwork to seal the Dutch luxury car maker's purchase of Saab Automobile.

• Swedish union plea to Obama: 'help save Saab' (14 May 12)
• Saab fans buy last car off the production line (5 May 12)
• Saab's US unit hopes to avoid bankruptcy (22 Dec 11)

"The transfer of ownership took place at 4:30 pm on February 23," Spyker said in a statement.

"Going forward Saab Automobile and Spyker Cars will operate as sister companies under the umbrella of the Amsterdam Euronext listed parent company Spyker Cars N.V.," it added.

"We are delighted. Saab's future is now secure," Spyker chief Victor Muller said in the statement.

"From today we will be concentrating all of our efforts into reviving Saab and transforming it into a sustainable and profitable company with the confidence to be bold," he added.

Spyker and GM reached a deal last month for the sale of Saab for $74 million in cash and about $326 million worth of redeemable preferred shares to be retained by the American giant.

Saab's future had been in doubt throughout 2009 as GM, going through bankruptcy, radically restructured its business and tried to sell off what it saw as non-core and unprofitable assets.

"Today's announcement is great for Saab's customers, dealers, suppliers and employees around the globe," Saab chief Jan Åke Jonsson said in Tuesday's statement.

"The level of passion and support shown to Saab over recent months has been remarkable and this does bode well for the future," he said, adding that the Swedish company would now focus on the introduction of its new 9-5 model later this year.

Spyker, a minnow in the global auto industry, manufactured 21 cars in the first quarter of 2009 and sold 23 for prices starting at €199,990. It has a workforce of about 90 assembly workers while Saab has 3,400 employees in Sweden alone.