Brightwell Holdings, a Turkish private equity company, has withdrawn its offer to acquire bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab after General Motors refused to release the intellectual property licences required to operate the brand.
Board member and spokesman Zamier Ahmed confirmed the pullout, saying the firm "cannot continue due to GM's attitude." Brightwell had submitted its offer directly to Saab's liquidators and had no direct contact with GM. The plan, had it proceeded, would have seen most of Saab's former employees brought back.
GM has blocked several previous sale attempts by the same method. The American automaker acquired a 50 percent stake in Saab in 1990, took full ownership in 2000, and sold the brand to Dutch company Spyker, later rebranded Swedish Automobile, in early 2010 as Saab was already approaching insolvency.
Administrator Hans Bergqvist said indicative bids had arrived from both Swedish and foreign parties but declined to identify any of them or confirm whether offers had lapsed. China's Youngman, which had been negotiating a purchase before Saab's December bankruptcy filing, confirmed a preliminary all-company bid of roughly $298 million. India's Mahindra has also reportedly submitted an offer.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in February 2012, in its own words.