PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has identified several risks involved in Magna’s plan with Sberbank to take a 55% stake in Opel according to a report in Handelsblatt newspaper.
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The German business daily, citing sources in the talks for Opel’s future, said PwC sees “a considerable risk for error” in the sales projections.
PwC added that Magna’s plans to revitalise Opel are “not very robust” and that there was not enough room for deviations on the downside. But PwC nevertheless said Opel’s fiscal health could “in principle be restored”.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has backed Magna over financial investor RHJ . and propped up Opel with a EUR1.5bn (US$2.2bn) bridging loan in May to ensure it did not get swept into GM’s brief bankruptcy proceedings.
The federal and state governments are ready to provide billions more once the Magna deal closes.
Unions are currently negotiating with Magna and Opel minority owner General Motors over a restructuring plan that could lead to thousands of job cuts across Europe.
Magna has said it plans to cut about 10,500 Opel jobs in Europe to help to return the carmaker to profit and pay back EUR4.5bn (US$6.5bn) in state aid.
Germany hopes Magna will preserve as many jobs as possible in Germany, where Opel employs 25,000 people.
