Magna International and RHJ, the two remaining bidders, have been asked by German officials to revise their bids and improve certain aspects of their takeover proposals. However, it's still unclear which of the bid elements have to be revised by the two suitors.
As said, officials of the involved parties met yesterday and discussed on the future of the company. Deputy Economics Minister Jochen Homann said a decision should be announced by this weekend.
"We made significant progress," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. "All the partners -- so GM, Magna and RHJ -- confirmed that they saw themselves able to see eye to eye by the end of the week."
General Motors confirmed that talks are more advanced now but didn't go as far as issuing a deadline for an official decision.
"GM hopes to conclude its evaluation and make a recommendation to the Opel Trust Board shortly," the company said.
Earlier reports indicated that a decision might take longer because General Motors and Germany cannot agree on the bidders. While some German officials are supporting Magna International, GM Europe says RHJ's offer is better and easier to implement. Still, nobody knows for sure who's going to win the battle but the losing bidder could then use its resources to purchase another European carmaker, Volvo.
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