Sweden

Saab Automobile's future was again cast in doubt Thursday after owner Spyker Cars NV said a EUR150 million ($212.2 million) investment agreement with a Chinese auto maker had fallen apart, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The announcement puts Saab Chairman and Spyker Chief Executive Victor Muller under intense pressure to come up with another deal fast. Saab's plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, has been idle since production was halted six weeks ago after suppliers stopped delivering parts because they hadn't been paid.

Saab's new partner Hawtai defended itself against claims reportedly made by a top Swedish diplomat that raised doubts about the Chinese automaker's ability to salvage the Swedish car brand, Agence France-Presse reported. In a deal unveiled on Tuesday, Hawtai is set to inject 150 million euros ($223 million) into cash-strapped Saab through a partnership including joint ventures in manufacturing, technology and distribution.

Saab Automobile AB said Monday it has agreed to a strategic partnership with China's Hawtai Motor Group, just hours after Saab owner Spyker Cars NV secured EUR30 million ($44.6 million) in short-term funding that will enable the Swedish company to restart production, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported.

Saab Automobile Thursday said that talks with Chinese auto makers and the European Investment Bank over financing continued, but the head of a parts-supplier organization said the Swedish car maker's predicament was critical, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "The situation is extremely serious," said Lars Holmqvist, chief executive of European Association of Automotive Suppliers, known by the French-language acronym Clepa.

Saab Automobile Thursday moved a step closer to resolving the short-term financing problems that have brought production to a halt after the Swedish National Debt Office said the car maker's funding plan meets the terms outlined by the Swedish government and the Debt Office, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Saab, owned by Dutch car maker Spyker Cars NV, urgently needs fresh funds to pay its suppliers and resume production. Production came to a halt in recent weeks because of parts shortages after some suppliers stopped deliveries.

The Swedish National Debt Office said Monday that Saab Automobile has reached an agreement in principle with financiers regarding a solution to the company's acute liquidity crisis, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "The information that Saab has presented to us looks good and they will now have to present us a contract that is signed," said Unni Jerndal, a spokeswoman for Sweden's NDO. She said all conditions set by the Swedish government to reach an agreement have been met, and Saab is now working on the last details to secure the deal.

Saab Automobile's attempts to solve its acute liquidity crisis so that it can pay suppliers and restart production now lie in the hands of the Swedish government, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Sweden's National Debt Office Thursday received Saab's proposal to fix its immediate and mid-term financial issues and forwarded it--along with a recommendation--to the government to make a final decision.

Just over a year after General Motors engineered a sale that saved Saab from oblivion, the carmaker is facing a fresh bout of financial troubles that threaten to spread pain across Sweden, The New York Times reported. Production has been halted since Tuesday at the Saab plant in Trollhättan, near Gothenburg, following several disruptions last week and amid disputes with suppliers over payments and contracts. Saab said Thursday that assembly lines would not resume until early next week as it scrambled to find funds to pay its suppliers.

Nortel Networks Corp, the fallen Canadian telecom giant, said it will sell nearly all assets of its Chinese joint venture to Ericsson's China unit for $50 million in cash, Reuters reported. The joint venture -- Guangdong Nortel Telecommunication Equipment -- is a research, development and manufacturing firm in which Nortel's units, Nortel Networks Ltd and Nortel China, own 62 percent. GDNT became a supplier to Ericsson after the Swedish mobile network equipment maker bought Nortel's CDMA and GSM businesses.

A local authority in western Sweden is enlisting the help of the government's debt collector to recover $15.9 million it spent supporting carmaker Saab, now owned by Dutch group Spyker, Reuters reported. The government of Vastra Gotaland in western Sweden, home to Saab's main production plant, covered wages when Saab Automobile was under administration before its sale to Spyker.