Magna says it has accord to buy 55% of GM's Opel

ERJ staff report (AN)

Frankfurt, Germany (Reuters) -- Magna International Inc. and its Russian partner Sberbank have reached agreement in principle with General Motors Co. management over a contract to buy 55 percent of GM's Opel unit, Magna's co-CEO Siegfried Wolf said..

The boards of directors of GM and the Canadian-Austrian supplier still need to approve a deal before trustees who control 65 percent of Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall could give their final consent, he said.

"At 4:30 [Thursday] morning Austrian time an agreement on all issues was reached at a management level between Magna, Sberbank and General Motors," Wolf told Reuters, adding "one change or the other" was made in its over 600-page-long offer.

"We submitted a copy of a final contract that can be signed and implemented. I don't want to be overly optimistic -- and the contract will be certainly be examined in all its aspects -- but roughly speaking there are no unresolved issues with management any more."

The agreement does not necessarily mean that competing Opel bidder RHJ International is out of the running, though, since the Belgian private-equity firm has also reached an accord with GM's chief negotiator.

While Magna plans to expand Opel's reach to return to profitability, RHJ aims to shrink Opel.

"We are still very much in the race," an RHJ spokesman said

From TAutomotive News (A Crain publication)