Spyker Cars has agreed to sell its sports car business of the same name to a UK holding company to allow it fully concentrate running Saab.
Coventry-based CPP Global Holdings Ltd will pay an initial 15 million euro (£12.7m) for Spyker’s assets, including intellectual property rights and trademarks.
CPP is headed up by Russian billionaire Vladimir Antonov and he previously held a 29.9 per cent stake in Spyker. He was forced to sell this when Spyker bought Saab from General Motors one year ago.
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The capital structure of Saab and Spyker would now be separated, said Spyker Cars CEO Victor Muller. “Without Spyker we would not have been able to acquire Saab Automobile last year but the Spyker business soon became a small fish in a large pond as a result,” he added in a statement.
Muller will remain as CEO of Spyker until a successor can be found, and Spyker Cars will soon change its name to better reflect its business as owner of Saab.
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Spyker has struggled with debt since it was listed on the Dutch stock exchange in 2004 and sold just 36 cars in 2009.
CPP has said its acquisition of Spyker would allow it to add to its 250-strong workforce. The company already carries out the production of the Spyker C8 Aileron in Coventry and future Spyker models would be designed and built at a dedicated facility in Coventry.
“We have well-developed plans to expand the product range further, and the future of the Spyker brand is incredibly exciting,” said CPP managing director Brendan O’Toole.
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