Magna stakes Opel claim?

Opel's a rare gem in the open pit that is General Motors. Fossickers have picked up and tossed aside the odd Saab and Hummer -- and Pontiac? Hardly worth stooping -- but Opel has been honed and polished to perfection over the years by the gnomes of Russelsheim.

We reported a couple of days ago (more here) that Fiat is interested in GM's European subsidiary. In a report by Automotive News Europe yesterday, Magna International has been outed as a suitor for the troubled GM division.

According to Automotive News, Kurt Beck, the premier of German state Rhineland-Palatinate, has dobbed in Canadian OE supplier Magna International as a potential buyer.

Beck told journalists that Magna wants a 20 per cent direct share in Opel, which operates facilities in Beck's home state. But Magna apparently won't be satisfied with that. Reuters has heard from a well informed source that Magna is planning to acquire a majority share of Opel in a joint arrangement with a third-party investor.

Canadian newspaper, Globe and Mail, has learned that Magna International and Russian captain of industry, Oleg Deripaska, are planning provisionally to acquire 50 per cent of Opel. Deripaska has held shares in Magna since 2007, so the association is presumably robust enough to see off other interested parties, if the report is true. The Globe and Mail report supports Beck's statement that Magna would pick up 20 per cent of Opel, with Deripaska and Russian financial institutions grabbing 30 per cent between them.

Magna is possibly best known to Australians through 'Magna-Steyr', the Austrian joint venture charged with production of right-hand drive Chrysler-Jeep products sold here, as well as the G-Class Mercedes-Benz offroader soon to commence operations with the Australian army.

Magna has offered no comment on the various allegations concerning its Opel ambitions, but German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has informed the media officially that he has met with both Magna and Fiat.

Guttenberg will be working hard to pull a deal together, says Automotive News, since he and his government are facing an election later in the year and the future of 25,000 jobs at the four German Opel plants are at risk. So despite German-based competitors to Opel exhorting the German government not to do so, the 'Bundesregierung' is bound to rescue Opel anyway.

"The future security of the plants plays a major role in both initial plans," Guttenberg was quoted by Automotive News.

But there's pressure on GM as well. The parent must convince the German government to support Opel through loan guarantees worth as much as 2.6 billion euros (AUD $4.8 billion). GM's best option to achieve that end is to put a substantial part of Opel up for sale.

If GM offers part of Opel for sale, what's to stop the corporation letting the whole lot go -- especially if GM doesn't own a majority share in Opel any more?

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