Opel/Vauxhall - the final twist?
4th November 2009 15:06

I can't help wondering if yesterday's GM announcement that it wants to retain Opel/Vauxhall really is the final twist. Has a piece of the jigsaw that we don't yet know about just fallen into place? Are some old private equity 'friends' in a position to help with capital for restructuring in return for some equity in GM Europe?

GM in the driving seat with an acquiescent investor partner simply eyeing a return on investment with maybe even a buy-back option for GM in, say, three years when everything is looking a whole lot better on the Opel/Vauxhall finances?

It's just a thought, but if something like that were going on in the background, it probably would have not been announced at the same time as yesterday's announcement for reasons of political sensitivity. Better to say that GM simply prefers to retain Opel than that it is also actually planning on giving a significant stake to, say, RHJ which is making a billion dollars immediately available for essential restructuring and investment. That news might be better to break to governments after the Magna-deal-off fuss has died down a bit and a new business plan is available.

Look, there have been so many twists in this saga I can't help inventing my own.

COMMENT: GM looks to the future over Opel/Vauxhall

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