Swedish debt collector starts seizing Saab assets

STOCKHOLM: Sweden's state debt collector said on Friday it had started to seize assets of cash-strapped carmaker Saab Automobile in an attempt to recover 5.1 million crowns ($794,000) owed to suppliers.

"One of the banks to which we have sent requests (about seizing assets on Saab's bank accounts), SEB, has answererd. We have found money at SEB," Hans Ryberg at the Enforcement Authority said. "SEB will report on Monday how much money we have seized there."

Car production at struggling Saab, bought in early 2010 by Netherlands-based Swedish Automobile, ground to a standstill in April because suppliers who had not been paid refused to deliver components.

Since then, Sweden-based Saab has been scrambling to find new sources of financing. The company has agreed more than 60 million euros ($86 million) in short-term funding, which it used to pay wages and some debts to suppliers.

Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs said on Friday Saab was in talks with the debt collection agency. "They have their process to follow, but we are in a dialogue to understand our possibilities.

The volatile shares in Swedish Automobile were down 13 percent just after the news, but reversed losses to rise 12 percent at 1440 GMT.

Ryberg said the amount due for immediate payment may rise on Monday and Wednesday when respites for voluntary repayment of more debts expire.

Saab's next big test comes at the end of the month when it is due to pay wages to its roughly 3,600 employees, a bill that could run to millions of dollars. Gustavs said Saab still expects to be able to pay the wages.

Copyright Reuters, 2011