Headlines

The Grand Caravans, 300s and Chargers could be rolling off the assembly lines at Chrysler Canada plants within three weeks as the company's parent pulls away from bankruptcy protection with a new partner following a two-month shutdown, the Toronto Star reported. Although Chrysler would not confirm dates, the Canadian Auto Workers union said yesterday that company officials have suggested privately they want to reopen the minivan plant in Windsor, a car operation in Brampton and an engine casting factory in Etobicoke by June 29.

The German government said Friday there won't be any ad-hoc help for Arcandor AG, the retailer that filed for insolvency earlier this week, but it has been in touch with the company following its insolvency proceedings, Dow Jones reported. The government said it would help Arcandor when possible. Prior to filing for insolvency, Arcandor made two applications for government aid but didn't qualify.

Koenigsegg, the tiny Swedish supercar maker, is poised to buy Saab, General Motors’ (GM) Swedish premium brand, the Times Online reported. GM is set to announce it is in exclusive sale talks with the privately-owned company and Norwegian investors, according to sources close to the negotiations. GM declined to comment but said that a deal with a “primary candidate” was likely to be signed by early summer. The parties have signed a letter of intent and have left only minor issues to be resolved.

Latvia's prime minister says that he has saved the country from bankruptcy, the BBC reported. Valdis Dombrovskis told public radio that the decision late on Thursday to cut 500 million lats ($1 billion; £607 million) from the budget was "very difficult". But the cuts were needed for the country to receive the next installment of its European Union bail-out loans. The country agreed a €7.5 billion ($10.5 billion; £6.4 billion) loan package in December, but must cut the budget deficit to receive the loans. "The signals we have been getting from the European Commission are positive," he said.

Islamic bonds with a face value of $650 million sold by Saudi billionaire Maan al-Sanea’s Saad Group are priced for a default, according to ING Investment Management. Saad Trading Contracting & Financial Services Co.’s debt securities, known as sukuk, are trading for 25 cents on the dollar compared with this year’s high of 79 cents on Feb. 26, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Saad Group on June 2 appointed BDO Capital Finance to advise the company on restructuring plans after the Saudi central bank last month froze bank accounts of al-Sanea and his family members.

Foreign exchange provider Crown Forex said it was appealing against a bankruptcy ruling by Swiss markets regulator FINMA and might also sue the regulator. Crown Forex, which says on its website it charges a one pip spread for forex trades, has appealed to the Federal Administrative Tribunal, its chairman told Reuters. "The FINMA decision (to declare bankruptcy) was made to avoid responding to our appeal against an earlier decision to liquidate the company. FINMA are applying the law incorrectly," Crown Forex Chairman Ibrahim Ali said late on Wednesday.

German retailer Arcandor AG, which filed for insolvency on Tuesday, denied a report it was planning to only sell a 51 stake in its Karstadt department store chain and to divest the rest later, Reuters reported. A spokesman for the company rebutted the report which appeared in German daily Die Welt on Thursday, adding no decisions had yet been made. Die Welt had cited company sources as saying Arcandor was planning to sell a majority in Karstadt, aiming to keep a minority stake for the time being which could be sold at a later stage.

Air Canada's five unions could acquire a 10-per-cent stake in the airline as management tries to repair its strained labour relations, avoid a strike and preserve cash to survive the recession, The Globe and Mail reported. Under a tentative deal signed late Monday, three of five unions agreed to accept shares in exchange for supporting the company's proposal to freeze wages and defer most contributions to the employee pension plan for 21 months.

OZ Minerals Ltd. shareholders Thursday approved the sale of US$1.39 billion of assets to China Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals Co. with the transaction now set to be completed within a week, The Wall Street Journal reported. Minmetals increased its offer to US$1.39 billion from US$1.2 billion late Wednesday, shortly after a rival 1.4 billion Australian dollar (US$1.13 billion) recapitalization proposal from Macquarie Group Ltd. was withdrawn.

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding has expressed interest in acquiring Volvo, becoming the second Chinese company to eye the Swedish unit of Ford Motor Co., according to three people familiar with the situation, The Wall Street Journal reported. A team of executives from Chinese government-owned Beijing Auto was expected to visit Volvo's Swedish headquarters as early as Thursday to meet with its executives and tour its research-and-development and manufacturing facilities, the knowledgeable people said.