However, a report by The Detroit News comes to put things straight. The three bidders are as follows: Italian manufacturer Fiat - who recently joined forces with Chrysler and is now eyeing several European assets, Magna International - who might take over Opel with the help of several Russian investors and, surprisingly, Ripplewood Holdings LLC. Furthermore, a group formed for Opel dealerships and employees have proposed the company's board to purchase a stake in the manufacturer and help it survive.
Fiat has already confirmed that it wants to purchase Opel, pointing that it aims to combine its existing units (excluding Maserati and Fiat as the aforementioned source noted) with the newly-formed Chrysler alliance and Opel. As a result, all companies could benefit from each other's dealership networks, production lines and many other things that would pretty much increase their businesses.
"Should this transaction be concluded, a new company encompassing the activities of Fiat Group Automobiles (including its stake in Chrysler) and Opel would be created," Fiat said in a statement rolled out a few days ago.
Additionally, Magna International previously confirmed it eyes a stake in the German brand but denied it plans to purchase the controlling majority. However, the Austrian - Canadian automaker finally confirmed that, with the help of a couple of Russian investors, it will attempt to take over Opel.
As with Ripplewood Holdings, things are still unclear but more details are expected to be revealed very soon as negotiations are quite advanced at this point.
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