Spyker dodges Saab debt

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Dutch carmaker Spyker Cars used internal funding rather than external debt to pay General Motors the final $24 million purchase price for Sweden's Saab, ending concern over how it would foot the bill.


Niche carmaker Spyker, which has never made a profit, took over the larger Saab from GM earlier this year and is now working to revive the flagging brand. The final instalment of the purchase price had been due on July 15.


Spyker Cars said it made the payment without increasing its external debt or issuing new shares, adding the internal funding became available after the acquisition of Saab Great Britain Limited by Spyker on May 31.


A Spyker Cars spokesman said the company paid the final instalment to GM using cash from Saab Great Britain.


"Saab Great Britain is a wholly own subsidiary of Spyker Cars and has given an inter company loan to Spyker," spokesman Mike Stainton said.


Further concern had been sparked about the company's ability to fund the final part of the deal after it said in February it still needed to secure financing for the $24 million payment.


Spyker Cars had said it intended to fund the payment primarily through senior debt and that it had pledged assets to GM as security for the final payment.


"The early payment of the second and last instalment underlines our desire to finalise the transaction with GM as soon as it was possible, enabling management to fully focus on the future of the group," Spyker Cars Chief Executive Victor Muller said in a statement.


Spyker spent $400 million buying the iconic Swedish brand Saab, $74 million of which was paid in cash for Saab, including $25 million borrowed from a Muller investment vehicle and $25 million from an issue of shares, largely to GEM Global Yield Fund Ltd.