F1's Ecclestone joins bid to buy Saab

Formula 1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone is part of a bid to take over struggling Swedish car maker Saab, it emerged today.

The billionaire has teamed up with the Luxembourg-based investment company Genii Capital, which recently invested in Renault's racing team.

Saab has been put up for sale by owner GM as part of a major restructuring operation, and a bid deadline passed yesterday.

Ecclestone, 79, told the Bloomberg news agency: "It's a good brand.

"It's a good brand that has probably been neglected by the current owners. We don't own it yet, so let's see what happens."

Genii added that it "will aggressively work towards a successful closing of the transaction with all the relevant stakeholders of the company".

The extent of Ecclestone's involvement in the bid has not been revealed. He is reportedly worth around 3.7bn dollars (£2.3bn).

An offer for 62-year-old Saab has also come in from Dutch bespoke car maker Spyker.

"We believe the Saab brand has lots of potential and would be keen to close a deal as quickly as possible," its chief executive Victor Muller said.

GM's interim CEO, Ed Whitacre said earlier this week he was not confident a deal could be reached.

He said: "It's real easy. Just show up with the money and you can have it.

"Nobody's come with the money, so were in the wind down deal here."

The US car-making giant has been trying to sell Saab since January last year and increased the efforts after falling into bankruptcy last year.

GM is aiming to concentrate on its own core brands like Chevrolet.

Saab employs 3,400 people in Sweden.