General Motors (GM) denied rumours on Thursday that a consortium led by Magna had emerged victorious in the bidding war for GM's European subsidiary Opel, according to dpa. "That's not the case," GM's chief negotiator John Smith wrote in a blog, in response to the suggestion that Magna had been selected. Nevertheless, news that the heads of GM and Magna are to meet on Friday, reported by German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), was seen as a good sign for the Austrian-Canadian car parts manufacturer. Magna, backed by Russian state-owned Sberbank, is competing with Belgium-based investors RHJ International (RHJI) for a majority stake in Opel, which includes British brand Vauxhall. "We have had constructive meetings with both Magna and RHJI this week," Smith blogged on a GM website, adding that more time had been spent in discussion with Magna since their proposal was more complex. In particular, Smith said, Russian involvement in the Magna bid gave rise to issues, "including NewOpel involvement with Chevrolet in Russia" and "intellectual property transfer rights in Russia." In total, Smith said they had started the week with about 30 problems relating to Magna's bid, of which a third had been resolved.
