If you recall the the US government engineered the bankruptcy and restructuring of General Motors. Negotiations have dragged out for months and now, finally, GM will sell it Opel holdings to Magna and a Russian Consortium of state owned Sherbank and GAZ One component of the plan was for GM to sell off some of its assets to raise cash.
GM will still retain 35% ownership of Opel. Magna and Sherbank would each own 27.5% and Opel employees would hold 10%.
Opel is based primarily in Russeisheim Germany with four plants there. It also has plants in Belgium, Poland and Spain.
The German government is pleased as punch that Germany would remain the centerpiece of Opel production. It (the government) has pledged $6.6 billion dollars in guarantees to help Opel survive. Of course, as you might guess Angela Merkel expressed her approval. She said; "I'm very happy about this decision."
The one detail left hanging is over GM's control of intellectual property rights and vehicle technology.
The sale of Opel is not without pain. 10,000 workers will be cut, 25% of them from Germany.
So ends another chapter in the GM restructuring saga.
Do you believe that this decision to sell Opel was the right action?
Deere up on Q4 earnings performance
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)
Retailers can't wait for Black Friday, open Thursday
Add your comments