UPDATE:German Government:Unlikely To Pick Preferred Opel Bidder Wed
27 Mai 2009 - 3:32PM
Dow Jones News
A preferred bidder for General Motors Corp.'s (GM) German unit
Adam Opel GmbH is unlikely to be selected Wednesday, German
government spokesman Thomas Steg said.
He said talks on the carmaker's future will probably continue
with at least two investors.
"It is rather unlikely that the result of tonight will be that
future negotiations will only be conducted with one investor," Steg
told reporters.
But he said it is open whether they will agree "on a succession,
a ranking a preference list," and the meeting won't end without any
result.
Steg also said no clear plan has been provided by China's
Beijing Automotive Industry Corp., which isn't participating in the
talks at the moment. However, he doesn't rule out talks with the
Chinese bidder later.
Talks with the U.S. Treasury and GM over Germany's plan to
provide bridge financing have made progress, in particular
concerning the planned trusteeship model, in which the federal and
state governments would give guarantees for Opel.
"Details will be addressed. We plan to look into it
intensively," Steg said, adding it remains open whether the U.S.
Treasury, which will attend Wednesday's meeting in the chancellery,
can give certain declarations and commitments for the trusteeship
model.
Bidders for Opel can outline more details and improvements to
their offer for Opel in a meeting with government officials from
1500 GMT and top government officials will join the talks from 1830
GMT.
The final meeting late Wednesday will include Chancellor Angela
Merkel, key cabinet ministers, governors of the German states with
Opel plants, representatives from GM and the U.S. Treasury and the
bidders.
Germany will decide at this meeting whether it regards at least
one of the three bids as solid. This is a precondition for offering
a trusteeship model for Opel which would allow giving bridge
financing to the company for the next months to allow negotiations
with investors to continue.
The bridge, or interim, financing of around EUR1.5 billion would
be from state-owned bank KfW and Landesbanken of the states with
Opel plants. Austrian-Canadian Magna International Inc. (MGA) and
Italian automaker Fiat SpA (F.MI) are believed to be leading a
field of bidders for the company.
Financial investor RHJ International SA (RHJI.BT) has launched a
rival offer and Tuesday, Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive
Industry Corp. (BAIC) emerged as a possible fourth bidder.
-By Beate Preuschoff and Andrea Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires, andrea.thomas@dowjones.com; +49 30-2888-4126