Magna Notify Antitrust Regulators of Opel Takover

Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank notified today the European Union antitrust body of its takeover plan for Opel, with regulators announcing a November 27 deadline to decide whether to give the go-ahead to the plan. This basically means that Magna is not able to close the Opel sale before this date but GM's board will hold its monthly meeting on November 3 to study the latest Magna revisions.

According to the terms of the deal, Magna International and Sberbank would take control of a 55 percent stake in Opel while General Motors, the current owner of the German manufacturer, will still control 35 percent of the company. The remaining 10 percent will go to Opel's employees.

However, the numerous delays in the acquisition made people believe that Magna can't reach an agreement with all the involved parties and obtain the go-ahead for the deal. Furthermore, recent rumors claimed that General Motors might proceed with plan B which basically involves retaining control of Opel and start restructuring using government money.

But John Smith, GM Group Vice President Corporate Planning and Alliances (and GM’s chief negotiator for the sale of a stake in Opel/Vauxhall), said in a statement that negotiations continue and emphasized that it's in the interest of General Motors to sell Opel as it only wants to focus on its four core brands and their global operations.

"Work will continue to resolve remaining open points with the Magna/Sberbank proposal—for example, related to labor cost reductions and the government-backed financing package — to document the related understandings, and complete all preparations for the signing of binding agreements should that be authorized by GM’s Board at the November 3 meeting," he said.