Genii Capital Submits New Bid for Saab

Genii Capital, one of the bidders involved in the Saab case, confirmed on Wednesday that it has submitted an improved bid for GM's Swedish unit Saab, emphasizing that it has what it needs - financially speaking - to take control of the company.

Although General Motors has already started closing Saab - and even hired a firm to handle the process - Lars Carlstrom, the one who represents Genii Capital and Bernie Ecclestone during the talks, said he's very optimistic that GM could give a response by the end of the week.

Talking for Reuters in a telephone interview, Carlstrom emphasized the financial power the group he represents holds and emphasized that this particular matter should represent no obstacle in the Saab selling talks.

"It will show GM that the Ecclestone group is capable of providing financial strength to Saab during a long period of time and also show that the group has the know-how and capability, with its network, to run a company like Saab," he said in an interview. "Most important is that Genii-Ecclestone would like to provide information to GM that financing is not an issue for this group."

"I would say that we will hear something before this weekend," he added. "But even if we get a refusal from GM this week, we will not give up."

General Motors has already started the winding down press and appointed AlixPartners to supervise the process. A group of liquidators earlier this week traveled to Sweden to replace Saab's CEO and board of directors in order to take the necessary steps to wind down the brand.