Opel Sale to Close on Monday?

Magna International and Sberbank, the Russian partner that will help it take over a 55 percent stake in Opel, are expected to close the deal early next week, probably on Monday or Tuesday. Negotiations with union leaders on the proposed job cuts are still under way but sources familiar with the matter told Autonews that the final signing is very likely to be made next week.

Talks between Magna and union leaders resumed on Monday, with the Canadian - Austrian partsmaker now agreeing to cut fewer jobs in Spain. According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur press agency, there are still a number of issues to be resolved, including the European job cuts and plant closures. Labor leaders have already emphasized that they won't accept any factory closure and said they do not agree with Magna's proposed layoff plan.

Germany would be the most affected when the new Opel owner will start cutting jobs at factories across Europe, with 4,116 fired employees. Belgium takes the second place with 2,517 fired employees, followed by Spain with 2,090 and the UK with 1,373. These figure surfaced after the media rolled out some leaked Magna documents but, until now, the Canadian - Austrian partsmaker hasn't commented on the reports.

Meanwhile, governments across Europe are looking at ways to support the restructuring process, with the United Kingdom ready to provide financial backing to Magna.

"I hope he will have good discussions with union leaders," he said while talking about the meeting between Magna's co-CEO Siegfried Wolf and unions. "They're looking for hard information and strong assurance of the future viability of Vauxhall's plants. We've given support in the past to Vauxhall for development of their green car and I'm prepared to consider that further."