Saab seeking external financing for R&D

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - General Motors GM.N subsidiary Saab Automobile is examining options to secure external financing for development projects, a spokesman for the Swedish car maker said on Thursday.

But Saab spokesman Eric Geers said external financing would not necessarily mean outside investors took stakes in the company.

Newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported Saab was examining whether suppliers and other parties in the auto industry would be prepared to contribute to financing of development projects in return for stakes in the company.

"We have been working for two or three months finding external funding. It might be different partners that could finance different projects," Geers said.

"We need to safeguard Saab's operations for the future and secure financing."

He added that the company had established several good contacts, but apart from confirming talks with the Swedish government, he declined to say who Saab was talking to.

Svenska Dagbladet cited Saab Automobile Chief Executive Jan-Ake Jonsson as saying the possibility of an outright sale of the car maker was being discussed but was not the first choice.

"Yes, that is being considered, but it is not the first alternative," Jonsson was quoted as saying. He said the first choice would be to make Saab a more separate entity from GM's North American operations.

Jonsson told business daily Dagens Industri that the Swedish government taking a stake in Saab might be an option to secure financing.

"We would consider that the state took a minority stake, either through some state-owned company or by a combination of AP (pension) funds," he was quoted as saying.

The Swedish government, however, has played down prospects it might buy a stake in Saab, or in the Swedish car maker's domestic rival Volvo Car Corp which U.S. owner Ford (F.N) wants to sell, saying it was not the state's business to own car companies.

Swedish public service television reported, without disclosing its sources, that the government planned to unveil next week an economic stimulus package which included measures to support the country's hard-hit auto industry, but that it still ruled out buy stakes in Volvo and Saab.

Volvo Cars did not wish to comment on whether it was seeking funds for research and development ouside the company.

"We have no specific information on that, but we keep having a good dialogue with the government. But we cannot comment," Volvo spokeswoman Maria Bohlin said.

(Reporting by Eva Odefalk and Victoria Klesty; Writing by Niklas Pollard; Editing by David Holmes and Hans Peters)