The Board of Directors of General Motors reconsiders the sale of Opel to Magna International

The saga of Opel seems to still have some life left, because although it was the board of directors of the new General Motors itself that devised the sale of the European subsidiary to the Canadian components manufacturer Magna International with the support of the Russian bank Sberbank, several members raised objections to the process at a meeting last Friday, according to the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal.

The lack of agreement at that meeting was caused by the fact that part of the board is not convinced by the German government’s proposal to guarantee Magna International with 4.5 billion euros so that it can acquire shares in Opel. Likewise, the chairman of the board, Edward Whitacre Jr., and other members again suggested analysing more thoroughly the option of selling to the Belgian investment group RHJ International.

Although the chief executive of General Motors, Frederick Henderson, was in favour of Magna International in the bidding for Opel, he has agreed to reconsider the other offers and next week will announce the candidate he is going to recommend to the trustees of Opel, who will take the final decision.

As for the distribution of shares that Magna plans, more than half of the stake in Opel would be divided between it and the Russian bank Sberbank, which will also contribute capital. The workers of the German brand would hold ten percent of the company, while General Motors would retain 25 percent.

At present, Opel/Vauxhall is making use of the 1.5 billion euros that the German government contributed so that it can keep operating and face the losses of 2 billion dollars (about 1.4 billion euros) that it registered during the first quarter of 2009, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Source | IbercajaMotor