Saab ends deal with Chinese investors

Saab owner Swedish Automobile scrapped a $340 million investment deal with Chinese automotive companies Zhejiang Youngman Lotus and Pang Da after they proposed a buyout, straying from the original deal.

Youngman and Pang Da signed a nonbinding agreement in July to take a combined 53.9 percent stake in Swedish Automobile. The Chinese companies say circumstances have changed since that time, so the deal should too. They instead want to buy shares in Saab and take over the company.

Swedish Automobile CEO Victor Muller said the offer is unacceptable because it would bring about changes that possibly would mean the end of Saab. Muller would not say how much the Chinese companies offered. Muller's company ended the agreement with them on Sunday, after Pang Da and Youngman would not confirm whether they still planned to follow through with equity investments as well as a second deal for bridge funding.

Discussions between the companies are ongoing.

By Michelle Koueiter