UPDATE: German Ministry: Government, RHJ Meet On Opel Wed Afternoon
15 July 2009 - 11:31PM
Dow Jones News
German government officials will meet with Belgian investment
group RHJ International SA (RHJI.BT) over its takeover bid for
General Motors Corp.'s (GM) Adam Opel GmbH unit Wednesday
afternoon, but no decision is expected, according to the economics
ministry.
Economics ministry spokeswoman Beatrix Brodkorb told reporters
that the meeting of the government's Opel negotiation team signals
no preference by the government for any bidder for Opel.
"They will provide information on the state of talks," Brodkob
said. "This is a meeting on a working level and therefore no
decision can be expected."
The economics minister will not attend the meeting, she said,
but Deputy Economics Minister Jochen Homann will attend.
She stressed this is a purely an information meeting, not a
negotiating meeting.
Media reports have said that RHJ aims to take between 51% to 55%
of Opel, GM's European subsidiary. RHJ's plan rules out any plant
closures in Germany, but GM Europe operations elsewhere in Europe
will not all be spared. RJH also doesn't plan a quick sale back to
GM following restructuring at Opel.
Other bidders for Opel are Beijing Automotive Industry Holding
Co. Ltd., which is offering to invest EUR660 million for a 51%
stake in Opel, and Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc.
(MGA).
In May, the government selected Magna, which has teamed up with
Russian automaker OAO GAZ Group (GAZA.RS) and Russian
state-controlled OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS), as the preferred bidder
for Opel
Government spokesman Thomas Steg said GM's negotiations over the
sale of Opel haven't yet been concluded. He also said that GM's and
Magna's Memorandum of Understanding and Germany's state aid linked
to the MoU remain a good basis for negotiations and Opel's
future.
He stressed that any federal and state government help for Opel
would have to be re-negotiated if GM chose a different buyer.
"If GM wanted to close the deal with a different buyer (to
Magna), then one has to see what this (other buyer) expects from
the federal government and the state (governments), and this would
then have to be negotiated," Steg said.
Web site: www.bmwi.de
-By Andrea Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 30 288 8410;
andrea.thomas@dowjones.com