It might not be a full pardon, but Saab appears to have been granted, at the very least, a stay of execution after the Swedish approved bankruptcy protection for the struggling car company.
Although a Swedish court originally threw Saab's pleas for bankruptcy protection, saying that "there was no reason to believe the bankruptcy protection plan would help save Saab" Swedish Automobile (Saab's parent company) bosses have now seemingly convinced the government that they have a reasonable shot at long-term financial success.
This now gives Saab three months in which to secure short-term funding, during which time the Swedish government will pay the salaries of Saab employees. But will it be able to wring the cash promised from Chinese car makers Pang Da and Youngman? We suspect this saga ain't over yet...
(you can read what Saab has to say on the subject below)
SAAB AUTOMOBILE VOLUNTARY REORGANIZATION FILING APPROVED
Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 21 September 2011 - Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces that Saab Automobile AB and its subsidiaries Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB (collectively Saab Automobile) received approval for their proposal for voluntary reorganization from the Court of Appeal in Gothenburg, Sweden today. The purpose of the voluntary reorganization process is to secure short-term stability while simultaneously attracting additional funding, pending the inflow of the equity contributions by Pang Da and Youngman.
The Swedish Company Reorganization Act says that an application shall not be approved unless there is reasonable cause to assume that the purpose of the reorganization will be achieved. In today's decision, the Court of Appeal has found that such conditions exist, thereby overturning an earlier ruling by the District Court in Vänersborg, Sweden.
As a consequence of the Court of Appeal ruling, Saab Automobile will request for the bankruptcy filings by unions IF Metall, Unionen and Ledarna to be cancelled.