GM board to review final bids for Opel

• Source: Xinhua
• [11:42 August 22 2009]
• Comments

US automaker General Motors Co. is expected to review final bids for its Opel subsidiary Friday amid mounting pressure from Germany to accept an offer from Magna International Inc.

According to a Detroit News report, the German government would provide 6.4 billion US dollars in loans to Adam Opel GmbH, if GM selected the bid from a Magna-led consortium.

Magna, a Canadian supplier, proposes to acquire 27.5 percent of Opel, with Russia's Sberbank taking an equal stake. GM would keep 35 percent, and Opel employees would get 10 percent.

Magna recently revised its bid to allay GM's concerns about the risk of intellectual property losses, notably to Russian carmakers.

GM is entitled to select the bid, but may have little choice. As Germany's money appears to be the only option to provide Opel with a viable future, precisely what decision GM has to make seems academic, analysts say .

Opel has 25,000 employees in Germany, representing about half of GM Europe's work force.