GM Europe President Expects Final Opel Deal To Be Reached By July
05 Juni 2009 - 12:28PM
Dow Jones News
The president of General Motors Corp.'s (GMGMQ) European unit
said Friday he expects a definitive agreement for an acquisition of
the business by Magna International Inc. (MGA) to be reached by
July, with the closing of the deal to be completed by
September.
"But as our partners at Magna have stated as well, while we're
all fully committed to getting this deal done, much work remains
and much could happen along the way," Carl-Peter Forster wrote in
his corporate blog.
Last week, the German government agreed to provide EUR1.5
billion in bridge financing to keep GM's Adam Opel GmbH unit afloat
and enable it to forge a deal with Magna, despite the bankruptcy
filing of parent GM in the U.S.
The agreement to establish a trusteeship for Opel was reached
after two late-night negotiating sessions between company
executives, the German government, German state governors and the
U.S. Treasury.
"The trust agreement we established is a German KG company in
charge of holding 65% of the shares in Adam Opel in accordance with
the rules of a trust deed agreed between GM and the German
government," Forster said, adding that the trust company is
controlled by advisers instructed by GM and the German government.
It won't, however, be in control of Opel's daily operations, which
"will continue as usual."
Company Web site: www.opel.com
-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512;
christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com