GM gets 3 final bids for Opel, Vauxhall

FRANKFURT, Germany, July 20 (UPI) -- General Motors Co. received three final offers for stakes in its core European brands Adam Opel GmbH and Vauxhall Motors Ltd., the U.S. automaker said Monday.

"The final bids will now be analyzed and compared by GM," the Detroit automaker said.

Those bids "as well as GM's preliminary findings will then be reviewed with the German and other impacted governments, the EU Commission and the Opel/Vauxhall Trust Board," GM said.

While GM did not name the bidders, a German government spokesman told reporters the government anticipated Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. of Aurora, Ontario, and Belgian investment group RHJ International SA of Brussels would submit final offers for the brands.

Ulrich Wilhelm said Berlin was not clear if China's government-owned Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. Ltd. would also submit a final bid, but The Wall Street Journal said Monday it did.

Magna and RHJ are the takeover front-runners, the Journal said, citing a person close to the deal.

GM Europe said Friday its parent has requested final offers for Opel of Russelsheim, Germany, and Vauxhall of Luton, England, by Monday's close of business.

It said it would share its preliminary findings on the final bids later in the week with Germany and other European governments set to provide billions of euros in loans and guarantees to assist the takeover process and help save European jobs, EUobserver reported.

Some 25,000 of GM's 54,500 European workers are based in Germany and 5,500 work for Vauxhall.