GM Europe President:Outside Investor With Government Backing Best Option
13 März 2009 - 5:08PM
Dow Jones News
The president of General Motors Corp.'s (GM) European division
Friday said finding an investor for it's core Opel/Vauxhall brands
that has the majority of its investment backed by the state is "the
most promising and innovative path to take".
GM Europe is nearly out of cash, and parent GM has said it is
willing to sell a majority stake in Opel/Vauxhall as part of an
effort to win EUR3.3 billion in aid from Germany and other European
governments.
Finding a state-backed investor "would mean the taxpayer has no
immediate contribution to the restructuring - the government would
only provide guarantees for the majority of the investment made by
a third party," Carl-Peter Forster said in his blog on the
company's website.
Forster said this option "would keep government from having to
take an equity stake in the company, a political precedent that
many have been cautious about setting".
Company Web site: www.gm.com
-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512;
christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com