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Canada's Magna says bid on Opel finalized

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-14 16:02

The Reichstag building, seat of the German lower house of Parliament Bundestag, is reflected in an Opel car emblem in Berlin, August 4, 2009. [Agencies]

FRANKFURT: Canadian car parts maker Magna International Inc. said Thursday it has ironed out the final details in its bid to buy General Motors Co.'s German Opel unit.

Magna said "the open questions have been closed" in negotiations between GM and Magna management, and the contract will now to go GM's board.

Related readings:  RHJ says battle for Opel far from over  GM to review bids for Opel brand  Germany insists right to choose Opel's buyer  Beijing Auto fails in bid for GM's Opel  GM says Chinese company bidding for Opel

The GM board will then have to decide between it and the offer from Brussels-based investor RHJ International SA.

The Magna bid -- from a consortium of Magna International Inc. and Russian lender Sberbank -- is the one preferred by the German government.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said the government's task force on Opel would convene over the weekend to vote on its preferred offer, although she acknowledged that the final decision lies with GM.

"I hope that we can find a joint path," Merkel said in an interview with public broadcasters Deutschlandradio Kultur and Phoenix.

Magna said it is not clear when GM would make its decision.

GM Europe released a statement Thursday afternoon confirming the Magna offer would be reviewed.

"This morning Magna and Sberbank provided to GM and the German automotive task force revised draft agreements. GM will be reviewing these documents over the next few days," the statement said.

"The automotive task force will be reviewing as well, as GM has requested from the task force an outline of the financing package that the German Government, and other European Governments, would support. When this outline is available, the options for Opel will be discussed with GM's Board of Directors."

GM Europe could not provide a timeframe as to when exactly those reviews would take place or when it expected a decision or announcement.

GM Europe said in the past it had already received an offer from RHJ International that was "simpler" than Magna's offer.

The German Ministry of the Economy declined to comment on the matter Thursday but Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is also deputy chancellor, welcomed the deal.

"I am pleased that we found investors who are prepared to invest in keeping jobs here," Steinmeier said in the central town of Varel, where he is campaigning for the upcoming parliamentary election.