Sweden

The Swedish debt agency said Friday that it has found 5.1 million Swedish kronor ($796,291) so far in its probe of assets belonging to the troubled Swedish car maker Saab Automobile AB, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The firm, owned by Netherlands-listed Swedish Automobile NV, has struggled with its finances for months and failure to pay suppliers has left it without the components it needs to produce its cars.

Sweden's debt enforcement agency is preparing to seize assets of troubled car maker Saab in an attempt to recover at least 4 million Swedish crowns ($625,000) owed to parts suppliers, Reuters reported. "We have contacted Saab's banks," Hans Ryberg, an official at the Swedish Enforcement Authority said on Wednesday. The agency can now seize assets, including any cash in Saab's bank accounts.

Some European suppliers are preparing to demand cash-strapped Swedish Automobile be declared bankrupt, hoping the threat will pressure the carmaker into paying debts, an auto industry group said on Wednesday. Car production at Saab, rescued from bankruptcy in early 2010 by Netherlands-based Swedish Automobile, ground to a standstill in April because suppliers who had not been paid refused to deliver components. Lars Holmqvist, head of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, told Reuters that Spanish auto panels maker Matrici S.

Saab staved off a fresh bankruptcy threat on Friday by finding the money to pay its workers, but its car production lines remained silent and its long-term funding issues unresolved, Reuters reported. Fears over the survival of the 60-year-old firm, rescued from closure early last year, have ebbed and flowed as owner Swedish Automobile chases funding. Its production line has been closed since late April. On Friday the company paid a delayed July salary to its 1,600 whitecollar workers, almost half the workforce. This stopped unions from pursuing a bankruptcy application.

Shares in Swedish Automobile NV soared more than 40% Thursday, following a report in Swedish media that the company's Saab Automobile unit is looking to close a long-term funding deal with a U.S. investor, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Saab Automobile's chief executive and major shareholder, Victor Muller, declined to comment on the reports. Read more.

The Swedish labor union, Unionen, which represents 1,000 of Saab Automobile's 1,600 unpaid white-collar employees, said Tuesday it will send its first payment requests this week, giving the troubled car maker only a few days to find the money to pay wages and avoid bankruptcy, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Salaries were due to be paid July 27 but when no money arrived, the union began gathering any members' pay slips that hadn't been honored in preparation for sending payment requests.

Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov is working on a plan for Saab to pay back a loan from the European Investment Bank, the lender which he says has vetoed his proposal to buy into the ailing carmaker, Reuters reported. Antonov has been waiting in the wings to take a stake in Swedish Automobile , the listed entity that owns Saab, but his spokesman said on Thursday that the EIB had decided not to approve the Russian as a shareholder. "We are working on a way to be rid of the EIB loan," Lars Carlstrom said.

Swedish car maker Saab Automobile AB must pay its workers within 14 days to avoid bankruptcy, the general counsel at labor union Unionen said Wednesday after the cash-starved company failed to pay employees on time. The union, which represents 1,000 of Saab Automobile's approximately 1,600 white-collar employees, has started gathering members' pay slips that haven't been honored to prepare requests for payment that will be sent to Saab Automobile. When Saab Automobile receives the requests, likely sometime next week, it will have seven days to pay the claims.

Cash-strapped carmaker Saab said on Monday it had reached deals with many suppliers to settle debts as it struggles to secure parts and resume production, Reuters reported. Saab, owned by Netherlands-based Swedish Automobile , has scraped together 61 million euros ($88.5 million) in short-term funding in recent days. But it needs to get supplies moving again so car assembly can resume, and investors are worried about its prospects after it said last week production will not restart until Aug. 9.

Sweden's National Debt Office Tuesday said it has given its all-clear to Saab Automobile's request to sell 50.1% of Saab Automobile Property AB, with the final decision on the matter now resting with the government, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The NDO considers the Swedish government to have enough collateral to cover the guarantees for Saab Automobile's state-backed loans in the European Investment Bank, even without the shares in Saab Automobile Property.