[NJ Fisker Lawyer]

Today brought some good news for the Fisker community, something that we haven't had in a long time. According to Reuters there may be a bidding war for the company or its assets. Here is the link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/21/us-autos-fisker-bids-idUSBRE94K0YV20130521

Lets all hope for the best!

 

[LonePalmBJ]

I'm not sure how Reuters can claim an "Exclusive" since I've seen this story from several other sources today, and there are already a couple of threads on FiskerBuzz discussing it. (Fab: Might make sense to merge them all into this one to provide a single, on topic place to discuss)

I think this has the potential to be very good news.

 

[doug]

I'm not sure how Reuters can claim an "Exclusive" since I've seen this story from several other sources today,

Those other articles got their info from Reuters, which has pretty much been the only source of info regarding Fisker's various attempts at negotiating a buyout.

Agree with a merge.

 

[sverma44]

fisker buyers emerging

cnbc just reported that VL Auto and Wanxiang are pitching to buy Fisker. They also claim that European and Hong Kong Buyers are looking as well. Thats 3 potential buyers. Don't sell your car just yet….

 

[macnax]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE94K0YV20130521?irpc=932

 

[smoothoperator]

interesting that Fisker Auto has recently been removed from the KPCB website

 

[BHale1]

Let's hope that this happens. I imagine that they would concentrate on production of the Atlantic rather that the Karma if it is ready to go from a design standpoint. Most importantly though, we would have parts/service for our Karmas.

 

[Sandy Eggo]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE94K0YV20130521?irpc=932

You know what's sorta hilarious is that the Analyst from Gradient Analytics quoted in the article is a good friend of mine. I met him for lunch last week and got him up to date on the Karma and FA woes.

Definitely time for a follow up - I wonder if he knows a lot more (i.e., involved with any of the bidders) and just isn't telling.

 

[Fabulist]

interesting that Fisker Auto has recently been removed from the KPCB website

Not really. No one likes to list their failures* on their resume.

* No flames, please. From KPCB's prospective, their investment in FA has been a failure because it has not made them any money. Helping create something as creative, complex, and beautiful as the Karma was a great accomplishment to be sure, but KPCB is not DARPA and their ultimate goal is to make a profit, and they will most likely lose their Saville row bespoke shirts on this one.

 

[pythagoras]

Kudos Sandy Eggo maybe your lunch talk primed him for a relatively positive analyst comment, not like those private equity shouldn't be in automotive analysis!

 

[dennis]

There are new details in this article from the WSJ. Since all readers may not have access, here is the pertinent info:

At least two investor groups have expressed interest in salvaging Fisker Automotive Inc., the troubled maker of luxury plug-in hybrid cars, but their proposals would require the Obama administration to accept pennies on the dollar to retire a taxpayer-funded loan.

One group maneuvering for control of Fisker includes Wanxiang Group, the Chinese auto-parts maker that bought electric-car battery supplier A123 Systems Inc. out of bankruptcy, and VL Automotive, a startup company that has considered using Fisker's Karma sedan as the shell for a high-powered gasoline-fueled sports car.

The Wanxiang-VL Automotive group is proposing a so-called stalking horse bid for some of Fisker's assets in a prearranged bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Wanxiang and VL Automotive—which counts former General Motors Co. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz among its backers—would pay about $20 million for some Fisker assets, but not the former GM assembly plant in Wilmington, Del., that it owns, those people said.

Meanwhile, a separate investment group is proposing to buy the U.S. government loan outside of bankruptcy for around $25 million. The investor group then would remarket the company, free of the entanglement of the government loan, one of these people said.


Personally, I'm still dubious that the DOE will accept "pennies on the dollar", especially outside of a bankruptcy. We shall see...

 

[Sandy Eggo]

Kudos Sandy Eggo maybe your lunch talk primed him for a relatively positive analyst comment, not like those private equity shouldn't be in automotive analysis!

Yep, quite possibly. It also helps that he has seen the car and agrees it's outstanding. He's a serious enthusiast and collector.

The funny part is that the author of the article had arranged to speak to him about Tesla but when they got on the phone, she only wanted to talk about Fisker. He was probably thanking his lucky stars I had just filled his head full of useful information.

 

[Sandy Eggo]

Decent report on CNBC - video here:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100757905

 

[Fabulist]

Personally, I'm still dubious that the DOE will accept "pennies on the dollar", especially outside of a bankruptcy. We shall see...

I agree, particularly if the buyer is just going to turn around and sell the company free from the encumbrance (as the article implies) rather than operate it as a going concern, which would have at least the possibility of additional payments down the road to the DOE if they take some equity along with the cash.

 

[Falcon9]

http://www.greencarreports.com/news...fer-for-fisker-reported-to-be-just-20-million

Well that's 10 cents of the dollar for the DOE.

 

[smoothoperator]

Maybe owners can band together and make a bid on FA? At these prices it may make sense.

 

[ufojoe]

hmmmmmmm...that's a thought

 

[Nin ja]

If we get 25 owners and put a million in each, we can beat the 20m offer and get decent terms from doe ?

 

[8AVGMPG]

I'll throw in a couple Andrew Jacksons..

 

[Nin ja]

That's a start