BERLIN (AFP)--Canadian auto parts maker Magna is unlikely to
meet its target of mid-July for taking over Opel from General
Motors, a press report said Saturday, quoting a source in the
economy ministry.
Too many issues are still unresolved and "the likelihood of a
contract being signed next week is extremely low," the daily Bild
quoted its source as saying.
Magna General Director Siegried Wolf told Thursday's edition of
the daily Rheinische Post, "We are aiming for the date of July 15
to present documents" that would seal a deal.
"We are on the right path," Wolf added.
In late May, Magna and GM signed a letter of intent concerning
Opel under the aegis of the German government, which is to provide
substantial financial support for the deal, but talks have
occasionally stumbled since then.
Last weekend, the head of GM Europe, Carl-Peter Forster, said
Magna had a "considerable lead" on other bidders, including China's
BAIC, and voiced optimism that an accord with the Canadian group,
which is backed by Russian capital, would be reached by
mid-July.
Roland Koch, the regional premier of Hesse, the German state
which will contribute to a bailout of Opel, also backs Magna
against BAIC, which has made a concrete offer for Opel and its
British unit, Vauxhall.
Opel cannot be run by a company that "produces 12,000 cars a
year and does not even have the backing of the Chinese government,"
Koch told the regional newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt.
Magna is "the best solution" and has "a large advance on other
bidders," he added.
But according to the latest edition of the motoring weekly
Automobilwoche to appear Monday, a meeting of the Magna board due
to be held on Tuesday in Austria has been postponed, and the July
15 target date for a deal on Opel has been scratched.
The German economy ministry refused to comment to AFP
Saturday.