A meeting between General Motors and the German government today (21 July) is unlikely to result in a decision on the future of Opel and Vauxhall, government officials have said.
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“The government doesn’t expect that a decision will be made on Wednesday,” an unidentified official told Dow Jones. “Instead, a presentation of the offers is planned – it will be an information meeting.”
It was also unlikely a preliminary decision would be made on Opel’s future this week, a government source told Reuters.
General Motors last night said in a statement it had received final offers for a stake in Opel/Vauxhall from three bidders.
The three final bids are thought to be from Magna, RHJ International and Beijing Auto (BAIC).
The automaker said final bids would now be “analysed and compared by GM”.
Final bids plus GM’s preliminary findings would then be reviewed with the German and other affected governments, the EU Commission and the Opel/Vauxhall Trust Board.
Vauxhall.
A recommendation on a partner is expected by the end of the month, according to Dow Jones.
German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm has said the government has a “certain preference” for Magna, which has partnered with OAO GAZ Group and OAO Sberbank to bid. He had also said the government would assess the offers “in the coming days.”
Magna said on Monday it had amended its bid, with the company and its partner Sberbank each after a stake of 27.5%. Previously, Magna had only declared itself ready to acquire a 20% stake. The two firms still intend to invest between EUR500m and EUR700m of their own money in Opel and seek EUR4.5bn in state guarantees.
In a preliminary offer, RHJ offered to invest EUR275m for a 50.1% stake in Opel, requesting EUR3.8bn in government funding.
BAIC’s preliminary offer was valued at EUR660m and it asked for EUR2.64bn in German government guarantees.
