Coventry-based manufacturer CPP is in negotiations to buy Dutch
luxury sportscar company Spyker Cars N.V. in a deal worth around
£27 million.
The firm has signed a memorandum of understanding with the
company to acquire its assets in a 32 million Euros agreement.
Full production of the Spyker C8 Aileron had already been moved
from Holland to Coventry but this latest move means full ownership
of the company could transfer to CPP if the deal goes through.
Brendan O'Toole, managing director of CPP Global Holdings, said:
"This acquisition will be very positive news for everyone connected
with Spyker. We're absolutely confident that independent ownership
will enable us to rapidly progress an invigorated business plan, to
which CPP is fully committed.
"The management of the company has very exciting plans for
Spyker and the brand is entering a period of major
developments.
"We are ramping up production of customer cars at our new
purpose-built facility in Coventry and we have well developed plans
to expand the product range further, and the future for the Spyker
brand is incredibly exciting."
He added: "This could be great news for the city and really is a
positive move for the automotive industry in Coventry. It will also
mean more manufacturing jobs being created here.
"Last week we announced we were looking to take on 40 new staff
in all areas of the business and hopefully this will lead to more
new jobs in the long term."
CPP is a world-class British coachbuilding company with a
workforce of 250 highly skilled automotive specialist designers,
technicians and craftsmen.
It has vast experience working with global luxury car brands, by
adapting standard vehicles, or undertaking full production of
ultra-low volume standalone models.
Over the last 16 years CPP founder and managing director O'Toole
has grown the business continuously, and the partnership and
support of Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov has seen this
growth accelerate incredibly within the last two years.
The Spyker acquisition will be yet another milestone towards a
world class automotive specialist in Coventry, creating more jobs
directly at CPP, and indirectly, through the wide range of
automotive specialists based in the area.
CPP will structure Spyker's assets into a new subsidiary company
to be based at CPP's Coventry headquarters.
CPP has produced chassis and body panels for Spyker since the
brand's re-introduction in 2000. In 2009, it signed an agreement
with Spyker to undertake full vehicle production of the C8 Aileron
- with the first customer deliveries set for this April - and all
future Spyker models at a new and dedicated facility in
Coventry.