Currently reading: Report: 'Race to buy Opel is over'
Magna's funding partner shrugs off Fiat, BAIC and RHJ competition

Magna’s funding partner for its Opel/Vauxhall takeover bid insists its deal will go through.

In recent days, reports have suggested that Chinese manufacturer BAIC and Belgian private equity firm RHJ international have stepped in to try and wrest Opel/Vauxhall from Magna's clutches.

BAIC ‘will bid for Opel/Vauxhall’

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has also reiterated his firm’s bid, saying it is GM’s best available offer.

But Sberbank, the Russian bank that is part-funding Magna’s takeover, CEO German Gref has said RHJ, BAIC and Fiat are all effectively out of the race.

He said: “I do not see any serious competition. The choice has been made and the question now is of how to structure the deal."

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Klaus Franz, Opel’s works council chief had said earlier he felt GM was playing a high-stakes game to try and get the best possible deal for the German manufacturer.

GM Europe confirmed earlier this week that BAIC and RHJ had joined the bidding race for Opel/Vauxhall, alongside Magna.

Mark Tisshaw

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