Beijing Auto aims to finalize plans to buy Saab by the end of 2009

Plans for Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Ltd. and its Swedish partner to purchase Saab are being finalized and are expected to conclude by the end of the year, according to an executive of Beijing Auto.

Last September, Beijing Auto said that it would take a minority stake in Sweden’s Koenigsegg Group AB, which plans to buy Saab from General Motors Co. The stake is anticipated to resolve some of the funding issues for Koenigsegg’s purchase of Saab.

The deal had been expected to be completed at the end of October but was put off when the Swedish government said that it would have to wait for a decision on guaranteeing a 400 million euro ($600 million) loan granted earlier to Saab. Wang Dazong, Beijing Auto’s general manager, said that work on finalizing the Saab deal was proceeding steadily and “in an orderly manner.”

However, Wang declined to give further details, and would only say that mergers and acquisitions are “a vital tool” that the company is working on domestically and overseas.