No formal bid yet for bankrupt Saab: receivers

A Saab logo covered with rain drops is seen on a vehicle in Zurich, June 24, 2011.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The receivers for bankrupt car maker Saab are talking with several bidders and would like to sell the Swedish company as a whole, but there have been no formal bids yet, they said on Saturday.

Saab was declared bankrupt in December after frantic rescue efforts by its former owner, Swedish Automobile.

Chinese group Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile could make a fresh bid in the coming week, sources have told Reuters.

"We have had discussions with a number of interested parties. Some of them are interested in the factory as a whole and some of them are interested in parts of it," Hans Bergvist, one of the receivers, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"There have been no formal bids," added fellow receiver Anne-Marie Pouteaux.

General Motors, (GM.N) which still licenses technology to Saab, blocked earlier rescue efforts, saying it did not want help competitors.

Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri has reported Turkish private equity firm Brightwell, as well as Indian utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (MAHM.NS) are also interested.

Neither Bergvist nor Pouteaux would name any of the parties interested in buying Saab or parts of it.

"We do have an objective to sell a totality (of Saab)," added Pouteaux.

Saab hit crisis point early last year after its 2010 sales fell short of target.

Its production line came to a standstill in April and it has not made a car since then.

Swedish Automobile tried several times to line up buyers or financing, but all efforts so far have failed.

(Reporting by Patrick Lannin; Editing by Alison Birrane)