An acquisition of Opel by Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC), the fourth interested party that did not make it before the deadline for the official bids, would be strategically sensible, experts have said.
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Chinese carmaker BAIC lacks its own branded products and has so far been too dependent on its joint venture partners Hyundai and Daimler-Benz, Thomas Schiller from the Beijing office of consultancy agency Arthur D Little told Financial Times Deutschland (FTD). It was speculated that BAIC aims to launch Opel models in China, or at least use Opel’s technology.
Nevertheless, it was completely unclear whether the Chinese company would be able to integrate Opel into its structure successfully. This would present a great challenge, Schiller added.
Neither BAIC nor Opel and its US parent General Motors have commented officially on the possible bid, the FTD noted. Last Thursday BAIC allegedly signalled its interest in Opel in written form to Dresdner Kleinwort, which consults GM on the sale of its German subsidiary.
It was unclear whether a real offer would follow. The deadline for the bids ended last Wednesday.
