Magna board to approve planned Opel deal as early as next week

Jul 6, 2009, 15:18 GMT

Vienna - Canadian car parts supplier Magna is pushing ahead with its plan to seal the takeover of German car-maker Opel by mid-July, as a source close to the deal said Monday Magna's board would meet on July 14 on the issue.

The source confirmed a report by Austrian daily Wirtschaftsblatt that at that meeting, the board might approve the takeover of the General Motors subsidiary that was launched together with Russian state-owned Sberbank and carmaker GAZ.

The paper was quoting Magna board member Franz Vranitzky, a former Austrian chancellor, in its Tuesday edition. The group's European branch has its headquarters in Oberwaltersdorf, south of Vienna.

GM Europe's chief executive Carl-Peter Forster said that only details of the deal remained to be resolved, in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published on the weekend.

However, German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg struck a more cautious note when he told the WAZ media group for its Monday editions that so far, there was only a statement of intent by Magna and GM.

Meanwhile, China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company (BAIC) has reportedly launched a last-minute attempt to convince German government members of its Opel bid.