Saab filed for bankruptcy to crush private companies' merger and acquisition dreams

Despite receiving the first "help money" from China Youth Automobile Group ("Youth Car") last week, on the morning of the 19th local time, the Swedish Saab Passenger Car Company ("Saab Automobile") still filed for bankruptcy. A number of experts interviewed by the "Economic Information Daily" pointed out that once the Saab vehicle enters bankruptcy liquidation procedures, it not only means that the plans of the youth car and the huge group of "bread-hunting" European veteran luxury cars have failed in the earlier period, but will also be the two major ones. The pre-investment of nearly 100 million euros in the leading private automobile industry casts a shadow on the "bubble".

Risky bankruptcy imminent acquisition of hopelessness According to a report from Reuters, on the morning of the 19th, local time, Victor Miller, chairman of the Swedish Automobile Company, announced in front of the District Court in Wienershwar, Sweden that its Saab Automobile has filed for bankruptcy. The news was confirmed by many insiders interviewed by reporters. On the same day, Saab Motors, which had been suspended by the Pan-European stock exchange, issued an announcement stating that the reason for applying for bankruptcy was that "GM, the old shareholder that still has a say in technology transfer issues, does not agree."

The young negotiator of the youth car Pang Pangping, a female negotiator, said in a written interview with reporters that “we actually insisted on reaching the end of the day and that the two sides are still talking through the trans-ocean telephone consultation program. Due to the common position, today’s 9:30 am Swedish time. Sub-Saab Sweden took the initiative to file an application for bankruptcy, so that the Saab reorganization hearing originally scheduled for today’s court will not be needed.”

On the evening of the 19th, Chen Yongzheng, deputy director of the Swedish Investment Promotion Agency, who helped match the acquisition, told reporters that GM should not reject the only plan to save Saab because of its so-called “core interests”. Accepted." Chen Yongfu said "Saab Automobile and General Motors do not have positive competition, business philosophy, buying groups, and product positioning vary, and GM does not need to worry about this technology transfer."

Regarding the doubt that Saab Automobile's bankruptcy has caused investment in youth cars to fail, Pang Caiping insisted: “The funds we invest in part are used to set up (a joint venture between) the Swedish Saab Development Corporation. Other investment funds are exchanged for Technology.Yang Auto has successfully purchased the newly developed Phoenix platform technology from Swedish Saab, and the information has been returned to China. This technology is very high-end, and it is absolutely worthwhile. According to Pang Caiping, the next step is for young cars to be used. The technology enables Swedish Saab Development to develop and produce 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97 models.

However, Tian Yongqiu, an expert in the automotive industry who has exchanged views with many insiders of the acquisition, expressed doubts. “The patent ownership of the 93, 95, 94x, etc. and the original Phoenix technology platform are in the hands of the majority shareholder GM and cannot be transferred to the youth car; other models have not yet been formed or matured. Even if they bypass the GM to obtain the technology license, they must With huge investments in research and development, it is not necessary for young cars to spend huge sums of money. According to reports, the technical backbone and sales personnel of Saab Automobile have basically been dissolved and Saab has filed for bankruptcy protection.

For the future disposal of Saab Automobile, Pang Caiping said: "After the above-mentioned vehicle models are developed, Saab Development Co. and Saab Automobile Co., Ltd. will merge when they no longer need to use common technologies. At that time, young people accounted for 70% of the shares, and the Swedish cars (formerly Spyker Cars accounted for 30% of the shares." However, Pang Caiping admitted that the program still failed to get universal recognition. If the future Saab vehicle goes into bankruptcy liquidation procedures, can the above-mentioned newly established development company stand alone? Pang Caiping did not reply.

The dream of youth and the huge desire to acquire 1 billion in full The acquisition of turbocharged technology, now on the verge of bankruptcy Saab cars for more than a year, the huge group is not the first "crab people."

On May 3rd, Victor Miller told the "Economic Information Daily" reporter that Hebei's private auto company Huatai Automobile plans to spend 150 million euros, of which 120 million euros will buy 29.9% stake in Dutch Spyker and issue 30 million euros in 6 The monthly convertible loan will be converted into shares of Spyker in the Netherlands at a price of 4.88 euro per share in the future. Zhang Ruijun, vice president of Huatai Automobile Co., Ltd., said that after the completion of the acquisition, Huatai will become the largest shareholder of Spyker. However, after just 9 days, Huatai Motors issued an emergency press release confirming its strategic cooperation agreement with Spyker, which was negotiated and decided to terminate.

On September 15, the giant group announced that if the appellate court did not approve Saab Automobile's voluntary reorganization procedure, "as the company has already paid Saab Motors a purchase advance of 45 million euros, the company may need to operate according to the specific operations of Saab. Financial status, withdrawing some of the bad debts for the aforementioned prepayments for car purchases."

On October 31st, Huge Group announced that it had “signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Youth Cars and the Swedish Automobiles... to jointly acquire a 100% stake in Saab Automobiles held by Swedish Motors and all of SaabG reat Britain Ltd. (Saab, Great Britain). Shares." Among them, the huge group, youth cars and/or their respective designated parties will jointly purchase the sale shares at 100 million euros (about 1 billion yuan). The purchase price should be paid 50 million euros at the completion of the transaction and be paid 12.5 million euros per year on the first to fourth anniversary of the transaction.

On October 30th, Huge Group announced that “the parties will sign the share purchase agreement on or before November 15, 2011.” However, GM rejected a number of merger and acquisition programs when it was interviewed by foreign media on a number of occasions. The Group issued an announcement in this regard three times and finally stated that even if the expiration date of the memorandum was extended, the above “transaction and related share purchase agreement is still under negotiation”.

On December 5, the group announced that the Swedish company had previously issued an announcement announcing that it is currently negotiating with the youth car and a bank from China to invest in Swedish car. The plan includes a short-term solution to enable Saab to pay 10 January wages continue to restructure. The giant group stated: “In principle, the company will not oppose the proposal that is conducive to the reorganization of Saab vehicles and get rid of its current difficulties and grow up healthily... The company has paid Saab vehicles a prepayment of 45 million euros.”

In early December, Viktor Miller said in a media interview that Saab needs to raise 600 million euros (approximately 6 billion yuan) in a few days. Miller said at the time that, unlike previous agreements reached by Saab Automobile and Youth Automotive, the agreement did not involve young cars participating in Saab vehicles, which made the agreement possible without the consent of General Motors. "The new proposal only involves Loans do not involve equity." Miller also said that the largest group of car dealers with the largest share of the Chinese market "will no longer participate in this agreement." This was considered by the market as a huge group withdrawing from this acquisition.

Tian Yongqiu confirmed that young cars have gradually invested more than 80 million euros (about 800 million yuan) into Saab, "not including the money yet to be paid and additional investment." Tian Yongqiu said that the youth car seeks the core technology of mid-to-high-end models, and the giant group seeks exclusive rights for Saab vehicles in China. Therefore, the former is more difficult to withdraw than the latter, and it also has greater incentive for additional investment.

For many domestic car companies keen to acquire Saab Automobile, Tian Yongqiu analyzed that in the most recent year, the automotive industry continued to show a low degree of prosperity. The independent brands urgently need to expand their products through overseas capital to enter into high-end products and independent technological R&D to obtain joint venture brands. Foreign brands generally go against the market to expand sales.

Reflections on overseas mergers and acquisitions of car companies must break through the technical blockade Tian Yongqiu anticipates that even if the Swedish court rejected Saab Automobile's bankruptcy application, the road to bankruptcy and reorganization of Saab Automobile remains far-fetched. "First of all, GM will not allow existing shareholding ratios to be broken, either directly or indirectly. Conversely, GM believes that even if Saab vehicles go bankrupt, it will only take back a few drawings. Secondly, Saab is reorganized. To resume production, there is still a need for additional investment of nearly one billion U.S. dollars by all parties such as the youth car. This is only the first step in the long road to profitability."

A person close to the National Development and Reform Commission's approval layer told reporters that car companies must take risk awareness first. However, he still emphasized that as a representative of Chinese car companies, SAIC Motor has already mastered Saab's core technology through a joint venture company SAIC-GM and applied it to other models such as Buick Regal. "GM is just not willing to transfer technology to a third party."

Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary-general of the China Passenger Vehicles Association, said that the current debt crisis in Europe is still unresolved and Saab Automobile is on the brink of bankruptcy, while the Swedish government is eagerly looking for investors out of a stable employment rate. This acquisition should be said to have a "Geography" and other factors, but the lack of GM's "people and elements."

Cui Dongshu stated that "GM's blockade of technology far exceeds our imagination. China's adjustment of the ratio of shares and promoters cannot achieve GM's approval. The Swedish government and Chinese car companies are underestimated at the initial stage of acquisition. "Cui Dongshu stressed that with the rise of China's auto industry and overseas expansion, the technology blockade for China's auto multinationals to China is long-term and inevitable, and technical barriers are also a common practice for high-tech industries. Chinese auto companies need to do well in overseas acquisitions. "Preparing for a protracted war."

Recalling the aforementioned acquisition, Chen Yongxuan suggested that the overseas acquisitions initiated by Chinese car companies require a well-planned plan to find suitable international law professional firms such as law firms and consulting organizations. There should be no “minority” mentality. Cheap, and corporate strategy does not meet, do not blindly acquire." Chen Yongxuan also mentioned that Chinese auto companies need to pay attention to negotiation skills in their acquisitions and deal with the interests of large shareholders, big creditors, and other parties. "For large and time-consuming large-scale mergers and acquisitions, Chinese auto companies must face new signs and new risks. Always be sensitive and respond quickly," Chen Yongjun said finally.