General Motors Co. has no intention of reopening the sale process for Opel and remains intent on reaching a deal with one of the two remaining bidders as quickly as possible.
According to a General Motor insider, “GM has no plans to restart the sales for Opel and considers as dead end. It plans to finalize with one or two deals quickly. The wrap up comes up in spite of rapid financial improvement after the bankruptcy.
Fritz Henderson, CEO of General Motors said that they have no intention to open the sale to anyone beyond Magna International and RHJ International. Belgium automaker RHJ and Magna, Canada based auto supplier are both in race to buy Opel. German government has provided $2.09 billion to keep Opel alive and is ready to support more financially if needed.
Magna International is backed by German chancellor Angela Merkel and also includes cash support from Sbertbak, a state controlled Russian Lender. Strong support for Magna also comes from Opel’s union which feels Magna offers better protection for the 25,000 jobs in Germany.
Though GM is leading the talks on Opel sale, at the same time has expressed reservations about the Magna deal with respect to proprietary technology.