Expert: Objections may doom Opel deal

BERLIN, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Britain and Spain's objections to an international bid to buy General Motors' German Opel subsidiary may kill the deal, an analyst says.

German auto industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer says London and Madrid's reservations about the offer from Magna, in which the Canadian firm and its Russian backers have refused to guarantee that auto plants outside of Germany would stay open after the purchase, is fatally delaying the sale, Deutsche Welle reported Saturday.

Dudenhoeffer told the German broadcaster there is no time to re-evaluate the Magna buyout of Opel, saying the bid is the automaker's only possible solution.

"It makes absolutely no sense to continue with General Motors, because the employees don't want that and it was unsuccessful over the last 15 to 20 years," Dudenhoeffer said. "If they go out and search for a new investor now, they will need at least 12 months to broker a new deal. And in that time, Opel will fall into bankruptcy."

The Daily Telegraph quoted British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson as calling for changes to Magna's plan to avoid what he said would be "negative consequences" for Opel's Vauxhall arm.