April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Saab Automobile, seeking a new owner to emerge from bankruptcy protection by June, has about half a dozen serious parties interested in buying the Swedish carmaker, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

The bidders include an individual investor, a consortium of Swedish companies and at least two private equity firms, said the person, who didn’t want to be named because the talks are private. None of the most likely bidders are automakers, the person said.

Chief Executive Officer Jan-Aake Jonsson has said the Trollhaettan, Sweden-based carmaker intends to focus on four new models in the next 18 months that emphasize engineering and safety and promote the company’s turbo-charged engines. Saab predicted it will make fewer cars in 2009 and 2010 than the 93,000 produced last year, and that it needs to make 130,000 cars to break even.

Saab sought protection from creditors Feb. 20 after parent General Motors Corp. said it would sever ties with the division by the start of next year at the latest. The Swedish company aims to secure about $1 billion in financing from the European Investment Bank and GM to help it reach positive cash flow by 2011.

There are as many as 27 potential buyers, including car manufacturers as well as investment companies from all continents, Eric Geers, a spokesman for Saab, said by telephone today. The parties will visit Saab’s headquarters in the coming weeks to look at Saab’s business plan and new models, he said.

Extension

Saab creditors agreed April 6 to extend the company’s reorganization to May 20, giving it three months to restructure after the bankruptcy filing.

Under Swedish reorganization law, which is similar to a U.S. Chapter 11 filing, the company is initially given three months to overhaul the business and seek an agreement with creditors about outstanding loans. The court may grant the company extensions of up to one year in total in three-month steps.

The Swedish government has ruled out taking over Saab, saying taxpayers shouldn’t support the company. General Motors first invested in Saab in 1990, and the company lost about 3 billion kronor ($363 million) in 2008 and predicted a similar deficit this year, according to court documents.

The U.S. government last month gave GM until June 1 to come up with deeper cost and debt reductions than the biggest U.S. carmaker proposed in its plan submitted in February. Otherwise, the company may have to be declared bankrupt.

Saab will be in consultation with GM and Deutsche Bank AG to evaluate the buyers and narrow down the list to find the most suitable candidate, which has to be “strong financially with a long-term focus,” Saab’s Geers said today.

GM, which has taken over most of the claims on Saab to become Saab’s largest creditor with more than 90 percent of the total claims, is likely to agree to write down Saab’s debt by 75 percent, as proposed in Saab’s restructuring plan, Geers said. GM has claims on Saab of 9.6 billion kronor, Saab said April 6.

“I don’t see the writedown as an issue or hindrance at all,” he said. “Talks with GM are proceeding in a great way.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 16, 2009 10:20 EDT