Magna Delays Opel Takeover Meeting to July 14

One step forward and two steps back. This seems to be Magna's favorite motto these days as the company initially wanted to assure everybody that it is still favorite to take over Opel but is now delaying a meeting in which the board was expected to give its final approval for the plan. According to a report by Reuters, the Canadian - Austrian parts manufacturer delayed the meeting to July 14, but no reason for this decision is yet available.

"The date of July 7 was an option and not entirely fixed," a person familiar with the matter was quoted as saying by the aforementioned source.

The company refused to comment on the report, Reuters noted, which could make us believe Sergio Marchionne was right when he hinted that there are some problems between Magna and Opel.

Things are getting more complicated day by day as Magna is facing a huge pressure from both the German side and GM Europe because officials involved in negotiations repeatedly stepped in front of the media and confirmed the bid is still open to anyone interested. Furthermore, BAIC, one of the companies rumored to be interested in Opel, yesterday submitted its takeover proposal for the German brand.

The Chinese bidder said in the bid it would require only 2.64 billion euro from the German state to control only a 51 percent stake in the Opel and Vauxhall. The remaining 49 percent would belong to General Motors. To compare BAIC's and Magna's bids, the Canadian - Austrian manufacturer demanded 4.5 billion euro in loans to take over a 55 percent stake together with Sberbank, while 35 percent would remain to General Motors. The last 10 percent will go over to workers and dealers.