Law and Rights
Swedish car maker Saab has been struggling for months to survive - in fact, ever since GM dumped them after the GM bankruptcy - and things are still shaky, but now there's a white knight investor to the rescue. Well, actually a Chinese knight, sort of.
Last week Chinese car company Pang Da agreed to buy a 24% stake in Saab. Now comes word that a Chinese auto builder, Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co., as signed a deal to buy a 29.9% stake in Saab. The result? Chinese ownership of control.
Is China taking over the world by simply buying it up, piece by piece?
It took $352 million, but the two Chinese companies appear to have taken Saab over and the only thing left is for the blessing of Chinese and Swedish bureaucrats. And they don't have much choice about it since without the Chinese money Saab's doors will very likely stay closed. Still, CEO's say it will take several months before it's a "done deal."
It's all a bit too much like that commercial making the rounds about the US debt that China has also bought up.
Not only are the Chinese buying companies, they're building them here too. In Spartanburg, SC, a Chinese company is opening up a factory on land that cost only 1/4 what it would for land in Shanghai and will power it with electricity that costs 4 cents per kilowatt hour compared to 14 cents in China - without the Chinese brownouts either.
Are they are buying up the rest of the world because the world is cheaper than China? Maybe.
It's all a twisted maze of tax credits, cheap resources vs costly resources, and a lot of politics. But for unemployed and underpaid workers in places like Spartanburg, it just means jobs.
Same thing in Corpus Christi, TX where the largest-ever Chinese built factory is about to open, one billion dollars later.
It seems that the most common reaction is that of a 47 year old who had been laid off before a Chinese company bought his American employer's facility. "Just because it's a Chinese owner, they don't really care," said Scott Henderson, "They're all happy to be working 40 hours a week."
The Chinese have bought or started up at least 50 companies in the US, according to CNNMoney.com recently.
And what does it all mean? Smarter people than us will have to figure that out. Why? Because all of us are just trying to make a living day to day. But you can be sure that someone else has their eye on the long range plan - we just don't know whose plan it really is.
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- Is Saab About To Disappear? Bankruptcy "just Hours Away" Swedish Press Says
Once upon a time, Saab was a shining star in the sea of vehicles GM built or had a hand in building. Now, with Swedish creditors pounding on the doors and Swedish employees unpaid, the factory shuttered in Sweden (although the one in Mexico has its doors...
- Saab Troubles Continue As Asset Seizure Nears
It's a sad story for Saab owners around the world. The only vehicle actually being built right now is reportedly just the 9-4X Suv model with the rest of the Saab model line on hold while every day is undoubtedly causing heartburn in the board room....
- Saab Opens Manufacturing Plant - And Gets Shut Down Again - It Just Never Ends
Saab just can't seem to get it up and running as the money continues to run out. Last month it made a deal with China's largest dealer network that promised to refuel the Swedish automaker with badly needed funds to reopen its plant, according...
- Saab Is Tottering On The Brink Of Collapse - Financing Falls Thru
Saab breathed a sigh of relief a few days ago when it announced a deal with a Chinese automaker that would have Hawtai Automotive Group gobble up 29.9% of Saab and loan it more money, funneling to Saab $216 million. With the money, Saab was set to pay...
- China Buying Saab From Gm ?
Auto News magazine's European publication is reporting that GM is talking to a Chinese company, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp., BAIC, about buying chunks of the Saab business. BAIC is China's fifth largest automaker. And why not? After...
Law and Rights
Chinese buy control of Saab - well, they own everything else already anyway, right?
Swedish car maker Saab has been struggling for months to survive - in fact, ever since GM dumped them after the GM bankruptcy - and things are still shaky, but now there's a white knight investor to the rescue. Well, actually a Chinese knight, sort of.
Last week Chinese car company Pang Da agreed to buy a 24% stake in Saab. Now comes word that a Chinese auto builder, Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co., as signed a deal to buy a 29.9% stake in Saab. The result? Chinese ownership of control.
Is China taking over the world by simply buying it up, piece by piece?
It took $352 million, but the two Chinese companies appear to have taken Saab over and the only thing left is for the blessing of Chinese and Swedish bureaucrats. And they don't have much choice about it since without the Chinese money Saab's doors will very likely stay closed. Still, CEO's say it will take several months before it's a "done deal."
It's all a bit too much like that commercial making the rounds about the US debt that China has also bought up.
Not only are the Chinese buying companies, they're building them here too. In Spartanburg, SC, a Chinese company is opening up a factory on land that cost only 1/4 what it would for land in Shanghai and will power it with electricity that costs 4 cents per kilowatt hour compared to 14 cents in China - without the Chinese brownouts either.
Are they are buying up the rest of the world because the world is cheaper than China? Maybe.
It's all a twisted maze of tax credits, cheap resources vs costly resources, and a lot of politics. But for unemployed and underpaid workers in places like Spartanburg, it just means jobs.
Same thing in Corpus Christi, TX where the largest-ever Chinese built factory is about to open, one billion dollars later.
It seems that the most common reaction is that of a 47 year old who had been laid off before a Chinese company bought his American employer's facility. "Just because it's a Chinese owner, they don't really care," said Scott Henderson, "They're all happy to be working 40 hours a week."
The Chinese have bought or started up at least 50 companies in the US, according to CNNMoney.com recently.
And what does it all mean? Smarter people than us will have to figure that out. Why? Because all of us are just trying to make a living day to day. But you can be sure that someone else has their eye on the long range plan - we just don't know whose plan it really is.
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www.BurdgeLaw.com
Helping consumers protect themselves everyday.
www.BurdgeLaw.com
Helping consumers protect themselves everyday.
Subscribe in a reader- Is Saab About To Disappear? Bankruptcy "just Hours Away" Swedish Press Says
Once upon a time, Saab was a shining star in the sea of vehicles GM built or had a hand in building. Now, with Swedish creditors pounding on the doors and Swedish employees unpaid, the factory shuttered in Sweden (although the one in Mexico has its doors...
- Saab Troubles Continue As Asset Seizure Nears
It's a sad story for Saab owners around the world. The only vehicle actually being built right now is reportedly just the 9-4X Suv model with the rest of the Saab model line on hold while every day is undoubtedly causing heartburn in the board room....
- Saab Opens Manufacturing Plant - And Gets Shut Down Again - It Just Never Ends
Saab just can't seem to get it up and running as the money continues to run out. Last month it made a deal with China's largest dealer network that promised to refuel the Swedish automaker with badly needed funds to reopen its plant, according...
- Saab Is Tottering On The Brink Of Collapse - Financing Falls Thru
Saab breathed a sigh of relief a few days ago when it announced a deal with a Chinese automaker that would have Hawtai Automotive Group gobble up 29.9% of Saab and loan it more money, funneling to Saab $216 million. With the money, Saab was set to pay...
- China Buying Saab From Gm ?
Auto News magazine's European publication is reporting that GM is talking to a Chinese company, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp., BAIC, about buying chunks of the Saab business. BAIC is China's fifth largest automaker. And why not? After...