F&I Management & Training

Shares in the Dutch luxury car firm, Spyker, have soared after it renewed a bid for General Motor's Swedish car business Saab.

By mid-morning Spyker shares were up 27% at 2.17 euros in Amsterdam. GM has until 1700 US Eastern time (2200 GMT) on Monday to respond to Spyker's bid.

Spyker's chief executive Victor Muller said on Sunday he was "very confident" his new offer would lead to a deal.

GM says it is "evaluating" inquiries from several parties into Saab.

The new offer follows GM's statement last Friday that it would start winding down Saab after initial talks with Spyker failed.

"We have made every effort to resolve the issues that were preventing the conclusion of this matter and we have asked GM and all other involved parties to seriously consider this offer," Mr Muller said.

"We are very confident that our renewed offer will remove the impasse that was standing in the way of an agreement on Friday, and this would still allow us to conclude the deal prior to the expiry of the deadline originally set by GM."

Worker frustration

Spyker has submitted a new 11-point proposal to GM, addressing the issues that ended talks.

It is thought that the new offer does not include a loan from the European Investment Bank, which would allow the deal to go through quickly enough to meet the end of December deadline.

Spyker is partly owned by the Russian banking tycoon Vladimir Antonov.

Sweden's unions have urged GM to consider the new offer.

IF Metall chairman Stefan Loefven said: "I understand the frustration felt by everyone who is dependent on Saab, to be thrown between hope and despair is terrible. GM must now respond with a serious examination of the new bid."