At the last minute, Dutch car manufacturer Spyker has saved Swedish car giant Saab from ruin. For 52.5 million euros, Spyker CEO Victor Muller has managed to prize the firm away from its ailing mother company General Motors. It is almost like a fairytale. But it might be one without a happy ending.

 
"Many people will wonder how such a small company could buy such a huge company. This could only happen in unusual times. The period that we are going through in the industry is so unprecedented that a company like Spyker can buy Saab. But please, do not focus on that and think about the opportunities of the future."

 
At the press conference, Spyker boss Victor Muller stresses that a deal like this could only take place in the bizarre circumstances of the current financial crisis.
 

Golden Carriage
Spyker is a tiny, but renowned company. Back in 1898, it made its name by building a 'Golden Carriage' for the then Dutch Queen Wilhelmina. (The carriage is still used by Queen Beatrix today. Once a year, the royals use it to parade through The Hague before the queen opens parliament). Not long afterwards, the Spijker brothers, originally blacksmiths, started making cars.

 
The name Spijker, which was soon changed to the more international sounding Spyker, became world famous thanks to a number of speed records and participation in rallies such as the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. During the First World War, the company threw itself into building fighter planes.

 
The company motto is "Nulla tenaci invia est via", in other words "No road is impassable for he who perseveres".  But in the end, Spyker was unable to survive the competition. After making around 100 airplanes and 1500 cars, the company went bankrupt in 1926.

 
Expensive sports cars
In 1999, the Dutch venture capitalist Victor Muller revived the company. This small manufacturer of expensive exclusive sports cars in the Dutch town of Zeewolde has now taken over the much larger Saab.

 
"What do we bring to the table for Saab? I think what we can bring to the table is our entrepreneurship and tenacity. We have done a lot of difficult things in our time."

 
What does Spyker have to offer the Swedish carmaker? Straight away Victor Muller remembers the company’s motto, which is still used today: "perseverance and entrepreneurship." He has certainly shown a lot of perseverance.  In recent months, he has gone to General Motors three times with a bid.
 
 
The biggest problem was finding creditors and investors. Thirty percent of Spyker was owned by Russian tycoon Vladimir Antonov and his financial Convers Group. But GM was not keen on Saab technology getting into Russian hands. So Mr Muller had to quickly find alternative backers, while GM had already begun dismantling Saab. "It was crazy", as the Spyker boss puts it.

 
"But I am particularly stunned that we managed to do it. It has been an incredible ride since we started negotiations back in November."

 
Russian buyout
Victor Muller's head is still spinning from the fact that he succeeded. He borrowed money to buy out the Russians and managed to attract a number of small investors, who have not yet been named. Together with another large shareholder Mubudala, a government security fund from Abu Dhabi, he got together enough money to take over Saab. A 400-million-euro loan from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government, clinched the deal.

 
But experts doubt the loan will be enough to save Saab, which has been losing money for years. The firm has promised the Swedish government it will develop new, economical and environmentally-friendly models. But that will cost time and a lot of money.

 
Flamboyant
Victor Muller will need to use all his entrepreneurial skills. The flamboyant businessman likes to see his exclusive sports cars feature in Hollywood films. And there was no lack of publicity for his latest takeover battle.

 
However, his Formula 1 team was a flop. And Spyker, which only produced 43 cars last year, has made losses since the company was resurrected in 1999. For Mr Muller the company motto still applies today:  "No road is impassable for he who perseveres".

(RNW translation: nc)