Sweden

China's Pang Da Automobile Trade said on Wednesday it would halt its attempt to acquire Swedish carmaker Saab in light of Saab's bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Saab was declared bankrupt by a court on Monday, ending a nine-month survival battle by its Dutch owner. "In view of Saab being declared bankrupt, Pang Da Automobile Trade has decided to stop the acquisition transaction of Saab," Pang Da said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange.

Saab Automobile filed for bankruptcy on Monday, giving up a desperate struggle to stay in business after previous owner General Motors Co. blocked takeover attempts by Chinese investors, the Associated Press reported. Saab CEO Victor Muller personally handed in the bankruptcy application to a court in southwestern Sweden, ending his two-year effort to revive the carmaker that over more than six decades has become known for its rounded sedans and quirky design features.

Struggling carmaker Saab suffered its latest embarrassment on Thursday as it was forced to name a new administrator a day after identifying another lawyer to take the key role, himself a replacement for a previous administrator who had quit, Reuters reported. The appointment comes days ahead of a court decision that could push Saab closer to bankruptcy. Sweden's Vanersborg District Court said Saab had put forward Lars Soderqvist of law firm Hokerberg & Soderqvist as its new administrator, having said on Wednesday another lawyer called Lars-Henrik Andersson would take the position.

Ailing Swedish carmaker Saab and its court-appointed administrator Guy Lofalk want him replaced amid reports of disagreement as the company struggles to stay in business, a court said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The court is due to decide whether to keep Saab in a scheme which grants it protection from creditors while it secures itself a stable future. Lofalk, who applied to have the creditor protection scheme ended, now wants to leave his position.

Swedish carmaker Saab faced a fresh threat to its existence on Wednesday when a court-appointed administrator said its protection from bankruptcy should be removed due to a failure to secure Chinese investments, Reuters reported. Saab, one of Sweden's best-known brands, has been teetering on the brink since early last year when a cash crunch forced it to halt production. It currently has court protection from creditors and possible bankruptcy claims.

General Motors Co said on Tuesday it would not support a proposed ownership structure for Saab that included a Chinese bank, moving the Swedish auto company closer to liquidation, Reuters reported. "We have reviewed Saab's proposed changes regarding the sale of the company," GM spokesman James Cain said in a statement. "Nothing in the proposal changes GM's position. We are unable to support the transaction." GM has said it would be difficult to support a sale of Saab that hurts GM's competitive position in China and other key markets.

Saab's Dutch owner and China's Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile have agreed that the Bank of China , the nation's fourth-largest bank by market value, will come in as part owner of the ailing carmaker, according to a source familiar with the deal, Reuters reported. Under the new deal, the Bank of China will replace Chinese investor Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. Youngman and the Bank of China will own just under 50 percent of the company. The move could help pave the way for an approval by General Motors , which still has preferential shares in Saab and rejected an earlier rescue plan.

Car maker Saab will still for now enjoy legal protection from creditors, the court-appointed lawyer overseeing a reconstruction process for the company said on Tuesday after General Motors rejected a Chinese bid for the company, Reuters reported. GM had said on Monday it would stop supplying components and technology to Saab if two Chinese companies succeeded with their acquisition bid -- a hardening in its opposition to the proposed sale of Saab which called into question the survival of the niche brand, which has been under court protection from creditors since September.

The turnaround plan presented Monday for troubled Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile AB is far from complete, said Martin Larsson, the company's executive director of new business development and, according to speculation in Swedish media, the company's next chief executive. The Swedish district court in Vanersborg on Monday gave the company the go-ahead to continue its reorganization under creditor protection, after Chinese companies Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co.

Swedish car maker Saab Automobile AB said Thursday it cannot formally respond to the administrator of its reorganization's request to end the company's restructuring process, as it is in "intense negotiations" with investors to secure financing, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "The end results of these negotiations, which could be ready at basically any time, are crucial to Saab's position" in the matter, Saab's general counsel, Kristina Geers, said in an email sent to the district court in Vanersborg.