Spyker Cars, the Dutch owner of Swedish carmaker Saab, said on Monday it is working to put together a sale-and-leaseback transaction involving Saab's property assets. The investment volume of such a deal was not disclosed but Saab's 2010 annual report put the value of the company's property, plant and equipment at EUR 248.4 mln.

Spyker hopes selling the real estate and leasing it back will help address an acute liquidity crunch that has hit Saab's production in recent weeks. Both Spyker and Saab are loss-making and production at Saab has been halted since the end of March when some suppliers refused to provide parts until earlier bills were paid.

Spyker, originally a producer of luxury sports cars, promised a new beginning for Saab when it bought the company from General Motors last year. On Monday, Spyker insisted that Saab is suffering from short-term liquidity crunch and is not in danger of imminent collapse. Spyker hopes a sale of property assets as well as negotiations with Saab's existing financiers who have committed EUR 400 mln to Saab will ease the situation.

'Spyker Cars confirms that it is in discussion with a financial institution on the sale-and-leaseback of Saab Automobile's real estate property,' Spyker said in a statement. 'The outcome of the discussions is still uncertain and subject to the approval of the Swedish National Debt Office.' The SNDO acted as guarantor for a loan provided by the European Investment Bank.