DealZone

BP is still looking at asset sales, but those efforts are being eclipsed now by more exciting prospects of direct investment in the company. Buy ratings are popping up again.

How seriously did people doubt a big oil company’s ability to survive a crisis, even a badly mismanaged one? After all, this oil we’re talking about. Not some revolutionary technology that can be reproduced by anyone with a computer. There’s a heap of value in them thar wells for energy hungry humanity – a whole lot more than there is sympathy for oil-choked wildlife. Note: the tar balls may have kept Independence Day beach-goers away, but don’t think for a moment they didn’t turn on the air conditioning in their RVs when the mercury hit triple digits this weekend.

In asking sovereign wealth funds for money, BP is following in the footsteps of banks. The SWFs’ investments in banks ended up losing big money for the investors, but the funds might feel differently about BP. Energy, after all, is a business that sovereign funds in the Persian Gulf, Singapore, and oil-hungry China know well.

Of course, there would be a whole lot less risk if they just picked up a well kept set of the BP board game Oil Strike!

Saab workers are probably reminding themselves it is always darkest just before the dawn, which takes a lot longer to arrive in the Scandinavian winter than anywhere else. With the lights set to start going out at Saab plants, word surfaced that parent General Motors’ Dec. 31 deadline for bids was being extended into early January.

GM had given itself to the end of this month to consider bids for loss-making Saab while continuing a process to wind down the company, which has drawn interest from Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker and others. Spyker Cars Chief Executive Victor Muller said in a text message GM had extended the deadline for a final offer from Spyker Cars until Jan. 7, and added he believed there are multiple bidders for Saab.

As we’ve noted previously in DealZone, having emerged from bankruptcy means GM doesn’t have to manage deadlines for asset sales with creditors breathing down its neck. Sure, they have to keep an eye on Congress, which holds a majority stake of the company. But with healthcare, the financial overhaul and terrorism to worry about, GM could well keep extending the deadline for a few months. Plus, its worth keeping in mind what kind of exposure GM is running here, and what a week or two really means for GM to keep the lights on at Saab.