Now what?

29 May 2009 By Pierre Briancon

The Canadian car parts manufacturer seems to have a provisional deal to buy Opel from GM, blessed by the German government. Fiat had earlier stormed out of talks to acquire GM’s nearbankrupt European division. If Fiat’s move was a bluff, it seems to have failed.

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General Motors reached a tentative agreement on May 29 to sell its European Opel and Vauxhall brands to Canadian auto parts maker Magna, according to people familiar with the situation. Fiat, the Italian car maker also previously in the running, boycotted the final discussions after GM asked for more financial help for Opel.

Magna's original offer envisaged GM keeping a 35% interest in Opel, with Magna holding 20% and Russian bank Sberbank another 35%. Opel employees would hold the remaining 10%. The deal also depends on bridging finance from the German government.

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