Sweden

Troubled Swedish car maker Saab Automobile AB edged closer to bankruptcy after it said it had terminated rescue funding agreements with Chinese auto makers Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. and Pang Da Automobile Trade Co., though the three companies remained in talks, The Wall Street Journal reported. Saab is restructuring its operations under creditor protection and is trying to avoid being closed, after the administrator of the restructuring process on Friday moved to have the company thrown out of receivership and declared insolvent.

Beleaguered Swedish carmaker Saab said on Thursday the administrator of its reorganisation plans to ask the court to halt the process, in a move that could force the company into bankruptcy, Agence France-Presse reported. Guy Lofalk, who has been appointed by the Vaenersborg district court in southwestern Sweden to oversee Saab's three-month restructuring process under bankruptcy protection, had informed the company he would ask that the process be terminated, Saab's Dutch owner Swedish Automobile (SWAN) said in a statement.

Struggling car maker Saab has not yet received the 70 million euros ($93 million) worth of bridge financing it needs to survive while it restructures under court protection, a spokesman said on Wednesday. Saab, which has scarcely produced a car for six months, said in mid-September the money was part of a license agreement with Chinese car firm Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile. "The money has not come in yet. We originally thought it would take about two weeks. The process is ongoing, and we will give information as soon as we have the money", Saab spokesman Eric Geers told Reuters.

The owner of troubled car maker Saab, on Thursday said it will make a euro32 million ($44 million) gain if a planned sale of its Spyker sports car business to U.S.-based private equity firm North Street Capital goes through, The Associated Press reported. Swedish Automobile warned however that there was no assurance that a deal will be completed and that the conditions may change.

Saab Automobile staved off bankruptcy after a Swedish court granted the struggling carmaker’s appeal for protection from creditors, giving it a chance to restart production, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. The Court of Appeal for Western Sweden Wednesday approved Saab’s request for voluntary reorganization, overturning a lower tribunal’s ruling, according to a decision posted on the Gothenburg-based court’s website. The decision halts pending bankruptcy petitions filed by creditors.

Swedish labor union IF Metall Tuesday submitted bankruptcy petitions against car maker Saab Automobile AB to the Vanersborg district court, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The blue-collar union, representing workers at the troubled Swedish car maker, said in a statement the decision was "very painful" but that it must secure its members' wages and can't wait any longer.

A Swedish court gave struggling carmaker Saab leave to appeal a lower court's decision denying it protection from creditors, offering a glimmer of hope for the bankruptcy-threatened company on Monday. Saab, owing August wages to workers and 150 million euros ($207 million) to suppliers, applied for protection from creditors this month, but was turned down. Owned by Netherlands-listed Swedish Automobile , the company asked for leave to have the case re-examined, pointing to, among other things, a promise of new funding it received early last week.

The Swedish district court in Vanersborg Friday said it received late Thursday four petitions for a bankruptcy ruling against Saab Automobile AB, bringing the total number of petitions against the troubled Swedish car maker to six, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. There could be more to come: labor union IF Metall, representing about 1,500 unpaid employees, said Friday it would file for Saab Automobile's bankruptcy if Sweden's appeals court hasn't granted the company protection from its creditors by Sept. 20 at the latest.

Cash-strapped car maker Saab's first bankruptcy hearing will be on September 26, a district court said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Saab, owned by Netherlands-listed Swan Automobile, has been called to the lower court in the southern Swedish town of Vanersborg, the court said in a brief statement. Two white-collar unions at Saab, whose members had their June and July salaries delayed and have not yet been paid for August, served bankruptcy applications on Monday to ensure the activation of a state wage-insurance scheme.

Two Swedish labor unions Monday submitted applications for Saab Automobile AB's bankruptcy on behalf of about 1,130 workers who haven't received their August paychecks, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Both unions, Unionen and Ledarna, pledged to withdraw their petitions if the Court of Appeal overturns a lower court ruling last week that denied Saab Automobile protection from its creditors while it restructures its operations.