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GM, RHJ Negotiated Opel Takeover Contract

While negotiations over the future owner for Opel continue between the four parts involved (General Motors, Germany, RHJ and Magna International), the CEO of the Belgium investor says his company has "good chances" of becoming the next Opel owner. His statements are backed by a basic contract negotiated with General Motors which brings the Belgium suitors in pole position for taking over the German brand.

RHJ CEO Leonhard Fischer said in an interview with the German business newspaper Handelsblatt that RHJ's role in negotiations is less important these days as General Motors currently talks with Magna whose offer is said to contain several "unclear" points.

"We started the week with about 30 issues to resolve, including NewOpel involvement with Chevrolet in Russia, intellectual property transfer rights in Russia, advanced technology access, product development responsibilities, minority shareholder rights and other items," John Smith, GM Group Vice President (and GM’s chief negotiator for the sale of a stake in Opel/Vauxhall), said last week while explaining the current state of negotiations with Magna.

Also, General Motors is backing RHJ whose offer is much simpler and would be easier to integrate, as John Smith revealed. "It would require less monetary participation by the government and would keep our global alignments solid, while still creating an independent Opel/Vauxhall organization in Germany. This remains a reasonable and viable option to be considered as the very difficult issues around the Magna negotiations continue to be worked," he said.

Furthermore, RHJ is again looking to revise its bid, with new details claiming the Belgium investor wants to lower the amount of government funding for buying Opel. Additional information can be found here.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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