Chinese and Japanese Investors Bid for Saab

A group of Chinese and Japanese investors have submitted an offer to take over bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab, a spokesman said Thursday.

"We submitted a definitive offer on April 7" before the deadline for bids expired, said Mikaael Oestlund of the National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS).

NEVS, a Swedish-registered company founded by a Hong Kong-based company specialized in alternative energy and a Japanese investment fund, declined to disclose the amount of the offer.

The court-appointed administrators for Saab, which filed for bankruptcy in December, refused to confirm an offer had been made or when they might announce a possible candidate to rescue the iconic Swedish brand.

According to Swedish media they could make an announcement as soon as the end of the month.

Chinese carmaker Youngman is also known to be interested in buying Saab.

Swedish media have reported that Youngman placed a preliminary bid in late January or early February of about two billion kronor (220 million euros, $280 million).

Youngman has long been interested in Saab and tried to snap it up before it declared bankruptcy but those efforts were thwarted by the Saab's former owner, General Motors, which balked at transferring the necessary technology licenses.

Reports have also surfaced that Indian commercial utility vehicles manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra has placed a bid as well.

Saab was already on the brink of bankruptcy when GM sold it in early 2010 to Dutch company Swedish Automobile (SWAN) -- at the time called Spyker -- for $400 million.

Bankruptcy administrators said in April that Saab had assets to cover only just over a third of its debt of 13 billion kronor.