Spyker Aileron at the Geneva show...
The Spyker saga has taken a new twist with the news that US private equity firm North Street Capital has agreed to buy the sports car brand from Swedish Automobile - that's the outfit that owns Spyker, and is also currently battling to keep Saab afloat.
The deal sounds similar to the one agreed in February with Britain's CPP, but comes with a built-in caveat that it's still only an agreement in principle and not an actual sale. Indeed, Swedish Automobile says it can offer no assurances that the sale will proceed on the terms proposed. (Our story back in February headlined 'Coventry Company Buys Out Spyker' proved premature and, given the unfolding Saab back story, we're not betting the house on this one, either...)
Apparently the latest purchase agreement revealed by the FT last night has caused some surprise at CPP, who still maintain a strong interest in acquiring Spyker even though their own agreement in principle to purchase the brand has been allowed to expire on the advice of lawyers while the struggle for Saab's survival continues.
...but its future remains uncertain.
In November 2009, CPP - which had previously supplied body and chassis components to Spyker for assembly at its factory in Holland - agreed to take over full production of the Aileron in Coventry, but apart from a couple of prototypes no cars have been assembled. In fact we don't think any new Spykers have been built for customers since 2009 - although the CPP production facility in Coventry is fully in place and ready to go.
If the latest proposed deal goes ahead, it's not even clear whether North Street Capital's intention is to retain CPP as a production partner under the terms of the 2009 agreement, but it would seem a sensible option.
That said, common-sense isn't always at a premium in the world of bespoke sports car manufacturing, as history consistently proves...
UPDATE - a press release has arrived from CPP (reproduced 'verbatim' below):
"CPP Global Holdings notes with interest today's announcement from Swedish Automobile N.V. (SWAN) regarding the proposed sale of the Spyker business to North Street Capital.
Brendan O'Toole, founder, managing director and co-owner of CPP, said: "Although a February 2011 Memorandum of Understanding between CPP and Spyker's owner, Swedish Automobile, lapsed in June 2011, we have remained patient and discussions have continued. Until we are informed that that Swedish Automobile is no longer willing to discuss the Spyker sale, we are still keen to progress our proposed acquisition."
If Spyker is acquired by another entity, CPP will continue to offer its support in future engineering programmes, body and chassis production, and final trim and assembly of Spyker models. CPP has unique knowledge and experience of the current model line-up, and its purpose-built assembly facility in Coventry is ready to immediately 'switch on' production of the new flagship Spyker C8 Aileron supercar.
CPP recently announced plans to consolidate its operations at an all-new Browns Lane, Coventry engineering and production facility from 2014. Whether or not CPP concludes its acquisition of Spyker or remains the production and assembly partner for Spyker under different ownership, CPP's Browns Lane redevelopment plans will be unaffected. The proposed new vehicle assembly facility - one of a number of CPP operations to be consolidated at the Browns Lane site from 2014 - will produce the fully-homologated road-going variant of the next generation all-terrain supercar, the Bowler EXR, and the recently-announced new Jensen Interceptor. CPP is also in advanced stages of discussions regarding further ultra-low volume vehicle engineering and production projects."
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