GM set to sign deal to sell Opel Thursday

[rickaren]

GM set to sign deal to sell Opel Thursday, reports say

Posted Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009, 11:07 am in Employee News

General Motors Co. likely will sign a deal on Thursday to sell a majority stake in Opel to a group led by Magna International Inc., German news agencies reported.

GM agreed on Sept. 10 to sell 55 percent of Opel to Canadian supplier Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank, but the deal stumbled amid labor union demands for a veto on factory closures and concern in the UK and Spain that 4.5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid pledged by the German government for restructuring Opel favored the carmaker’s German factories, the Automotive News said. GM CEO Fritz Henderson said on Tuesday it was possible that a deal on the sale of Opel could come this week, the story said.

Under the agreement, GM will retain a 35 percent stake in the carmaker, based in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt. Employees will receive a 10 percent stake in Opel in return for 1.2 billion euros in concessions, Automotive News said.

Opel plans to cut 10,500 of the 50,000 jobs in its plants across Europe, half of which are in Germany with big work forces also in Belgium, Britain and Spain, the paper said. They have committed to keeping German plants running, but Opel’s Antwerp plant in Belgium and the British site of sister brand Vauxhall in Luton are seen at risk, the story said. (Automotive News)