General Motors says sale of Opel to Magna nearing completion

By The Associated Press

BERLIN - Negotiations for the sale of General Motors Corp.'s German unit Adam Opel GmbH to Canadian autoparts maker Magna are progressing well and should soon be complete, the head of GM Europe said in remarks released Saturday.

Carl-Peter Forster was quoted as telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that he hoped the sale of Opel to Magna International Inc. (TSX: MG-A.TO) could be complete by mid-July.

"It's only about the details," he was quoted as telling the FAZ, according to a copy of remarks released ahead of their publication in the newspaper Sunday.

"After the meeting between the heads of GM and Magna, I am extremely confident a comprehensive agreement can be reached," Forster said.

Already last week, Magna co-CEO Siegfried Wolf said his company "wants to come to an agreement by July 15." Forster praised Wolf as a tough negotiator.

"He's putting the pressure on, and that is good," Forster was quoted as saying.

Magna and Russian Sberbank signed a non-binding agreement in May that envisages Sberbank taking a 35 per cent stake and Magna a 20 per cent stake in the GM subsidiary.

GM - now restructuring under bankruptcy court protection - would keep a 35 per cent interest and Opel employees would hold 10 per cent.

The deal was touted in Russia as a major coup for the country's troubled auto industry - based on signals that Magna would produce Opel cars in Russia.

But the German government has said it is still talking with other bidders despite the ongoing negotiations with Magna.

Forster was sharply critical of such comments, telling the FAZ "there is too much talk."

"A lot of people are talking who have nothing to say," he was quoted as saying.

Forster said talks with other investors were nowhere near as far along as those with Magna.

"Magna has a very substantial advantage," the FAZ cited Forster as saying.

He said issues over Opel patents have largely been sorted out with Magna, and that the two companies were now talking largely about how the company would operate in Russia.

"Who will be our local partners there? What happens to the GM factories there and the other GM brands in Russia," he said.

On Friday, GM Europe confirmed it had received a non-binding offer from a Chinese concern for its Opel division.

The offer was from Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co.

-With files from The Canadian Press.