Saab Assets Cover Less Than One-Third of Debts

Saab Automobile AB, which filed for bankruptcy in December, has 13 billion kronor (€1.5 billion) of debt and 3.6 billion kronor (€406 million) of assets, according to the company's court-appointed receivers.

They say creditors whose claims are backed by collateral will be the only ones to receive any money. That includes Sweden's National Debt Office, which is likely to recover the 2.2 billion-kronor (€248 million) it paid to guarantee a European Investment Bank loan to Saab.

The company's 3,600 former employees are owed 513 million kronor (€58 million) in unpaid wages. Suppliers and most workers are not likely to receive any money. Saab also owes 872 million kronor (€98 million) to the Swedish government, which paid the wages of company employees for three months.

The company owes former parent General Motors Co. 606 million kronor (€68 million) in debt and 2.2 billion kronor for preferential shares. The receivers say the latter are probably worthless because GM would be paid only in the unlikely event that Saab's liquidation produced surplus cash.

The receivers didn't disclose the status of talks with potential Saab buyers. They said in January that several investors were considering bids. Monday was the deadline for final offers for the company's assets.