Magna wins bid to buy GM's Opel unit

Toronto, September 10– The long wait and uncertainty for 50,000 European auto workers is finally over: General Motors will sell Opel to Canada's Magna International and its Russian partner, Sberbank. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has lobbied for the deal with Magna for more than six months. A rival bid by a Belgian investor, RHJ International, was rejected. GM will maintain a 35-percent stake in Opel, which it has owned since 1929. The sale is part of GM's restructuring, required for the automaker to qualify for US government emergency funding. Germany has promised 4.5 billion euros (6.6 billion USD) in guarantees for the Magna-backed deal.

GM said that Opel, its engineering source for mid-sized cars worldwide, will remain a fully integrated part of GM. Engineering developed at Opel will be used, for example, in the new Chevrolet Cruze, scheduled to go into production for North American markets in spring, 2010.

Frank Stronach of Magna has plans to grow Opel by expanding into Russia. This is the first time that Magna has owned its own brand. It lost a bid for Chrysler LLC two years ago.