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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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Okla. Private Equity Firm Bids for Saturn Brand

Potential suitor pledges to keep brand alive after it leaves GM

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(Newser) – A private equity firm is making a bid to buy General Motors' Saturn brand, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Oklahoma company, Black Oak Partners—which says it has gone public in the hopes of stopping dealers from abandoning the brand—is the first known suitor for any of the brands GM is seeking to offload, which also include Hummer and Saab. The auto maker says it is weighing "a handful" of offers.

Black Oak is owned by the Bob Moore Auto Group, which holds 17 new-car franchises, including two Saturn dealerships. The company said that if it acquires Saturn, it would continue to distribute GM-made vehicles through 2011 and would also source vehicles from foreign manufacturers to brand as Saturns.

Three dozen Saturn dealerships folded in the first 3 months of this year, leaving 384 dealerships nationwide.
Three dozen Saturn dealerships folded in the first 3 months of this year, leaving 384 dealerships nationwide.   (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
GM plans to stop producing Saturn vehicles after the 2011 model year and will wind the brand down if no deal to sell it is made.
GM plans to stop producing Saturn vehicles after the 2011 model year and will wind the brand down if no deal to sell it is made.   (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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Saturn is so integrated it's hard to imagine selling it off. I don't see how they can make money off this." - Jim Hossack of auto industry consultancy firm AutoPacific

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