After reports circulated widely yesterday that GM and Magna were at or very close to agreement on the sale of Opel and that Magna had dealt with GM’s Magna bid concerns, GM has today stressed that it has not reached agreement with Magna.
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John Smith, GM’s chief negotiator for the sale of a stake in Opel/Vauxhall, said in GM’s coporate blog that many media outlets yesterday reported that Magna/Sberbank and General Motors had reached an agreement regarding Opel.
“At the risk of repeating myself, that’s just not the case,” Smith said.
He reiterated that GM received a revised offer from Magna/Sberbank yesterday morning and that it is under review.
Significantly, Smith also referred to the RHJ proposal as ‘attractive’.
Smith said in the blog: “We’ll update the comparisons we made previously to the attractive proposal submitted by RHJI on July 20 and prepare for a review with GM’s Board of Directors. We’ve also asked the German automotive task force to provide GM an outline of the terms and conditions of the financing package they and other European governments would make available to NewOpel. We expect to receive this outline soon, which will round out the materials needed for the GM Board review.
“After the GM Board makes its recommendation, the Opel Trust Board will be asked for its approval. So, there is more to consider, and more to do, before an agreement for Opel is reached.
“As always, I’ll keep you posted!”
Magna co-CEO Siegfried Wolf told Reuters on Thursday that the Canadian automotive group and its Russian partner Sberbank had reached agreement in principle with GM management over a contract to buy 55 percent of Opel.
In other developments, a senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly said that the federal government in Berlin and the states where Opel has plants are only prepared to offer financing aid if Canada’s Magna wins the bidding battle.
“The states with Opel plants and the federal government are in agreement: we will support a decision with guarantees only if GM opts for Magna,” Dieter Althaus, premier of the eastern state of Thuringia, where Opel has a plant, told the Handelsblatt newspaper.
Merkel reiterated on Thursday that Germany preferred Magna’s bid over that of RHJ, but acknowledged that GM could have a different view on the matter.
Merkel is visiting Russia’s President Medvedev today and the subject of Magna/Sberbank’s bid for Opel is expected to be raised.
