Enlarge Photo
(Reuters)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Opel's labor force has agreed to contribute 265 million euros ($387.7 million) in annual savings if General Motors finally sells a majority stake in its European arm to a group led by Canada's Magna .
"The cuts are painful for us all, but we are prepared to assume responsibility," Opel labor leader Klaus Franz said in a statement on Tuesday announcing the accord with Magna.
The deal calls for avoiding plant closures or forced layoffs at Opel, which was ringfenced and propped up with German state aid to keep it out of GM's brief dip into bankruptcy.
Opel workers are set to own 10 percent of their company once Magna and Russian partner Sberbank get a 55 percent stake. GM, whose board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to address the sale, would hold 35 percent.
Signing a sale contract would cap weeks of negotiations by the companies and Opel workers, but closing the transaction awaits crucial details on financing, including nailing down 4.5 billion euros in aid sought from states with Opel plants.
The European Commission is keeping a close eye on the deal to ensure state aid is not misused for political purposes.
It has pressured Berlin into making assurances that the state aid it envisages was available to any buyer, not just its preferred buyer Magna.
GM and the German trust set up to oversee the sale also need to say they still would have picked Magna as the buyer in the knowledge that Opel would get state aid no matter who bought it.
(Reporting by Michael Shields)
