BIDDING FOR troubled Opel ends today, with politicians expected to meet until late into the night to decide on a winner, writes DEREK SCALLYin Berlin
Three companies are in the running: Fiat of Italy, the Austro-Canadian auto supplier Magna and the investment company Ripplewood Holdings.
That the final decision will fall in Berlin and not with Opel’s owner, General Motors (GM) in Detroit, indicates just how dependent the new Opel owner will be on state guarantees, and the political sensitivity of the deal.
Just four months ahead of a general election, the two parties that make up Berlin’s left-right grand coalition are fighting to be seen as Opel’s true saviour.
But after six months of negotiations, industry observers are wondering whose interests politicians are representing: workers’, taxpayers’ or their own.
The difficulties are clear: the solution that makes best long-term sense may require restructuring and job cuts that are currently politically unacceptable.
But the potential bidders know they haven’t a chance of success unless the politicians sign off on a final takeover deal. Opel managers say the company needs a €3.3 billion state bail-out to keep afloat – and keep its 26,000 employees in work.
Magna is the clear political favourite. The company employs 82,000 people in 25 countries and, as well as car parts, is heavily involved in outsourced manufacture, including the the BMW X3 and the Mercedes G class. According to Roland Koch, governor of the state of Hesse where Opel has its headquarters, Magna’s offer is “closest to the hopes and wishes” of politicians and employees – although cuts will be unavoidable.
However, chancellor Angela Merkel is said to favour Fiat – the only bidder with experience of running a car company.
Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne headed to Berlin yesterday to make a last bid and dispel suspicions that Fiat is itself too troubled to save Opel.
The dark horse of the race is Ripplewood, a holding company said to favour a solution that would give the Opel and Vauxhall brands greater autonomy within the GM brand.
At the weekend, economic minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg put a cat among the pigeons by suggesting a controlled liquidation of Opel as preferable to existing offers.
Startled bidders reworked their offers – Fiat and Magna want to merge production to achieve greater economies of scale – and submitted final presentations yesterday.
With GM on the brink of bankruptcy, the clock is ticking.
As chancellor Merkel put it: “What we don’t want is to arrive at a situation where we become part of an eventual Chapter 11 proceedings for GM.”