IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Saab writedown gets nod

Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile secured a key court ruling yesterday allowing it to cut billions of crowns of debt and paving the way for a takeover of the General Motors unit by local sportscar maker Koenigsegg.

A court in Vanersborg, southwest Sweden, approved the 75 percent writedown of Saab's more than 10 billion crowns of debt ($1.4 billion) after creditors gave the go-ahead earlier yesterday. Saab has been in bankruptcy protection since February and asked creditors to write off 75 percent of its 10.6 billion crowns ($1.36 billion) of debt, most of which is owed to GM.