The possible buyers of Opel

Three bidders have come forward for Opel

Opel, the main European unit of ailing US car firm General Motors, is set to be acquired by another company.

The three contenders are Fiat, Magma, RHJ International, and late entrant Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation.
A preliminary decision about which offer will win could be announced by the end of May.
GM, which has its own deadline of 1 June to restructure or face bankruptcy, will take the decision on who can buy Opel and its UK brand Vauxhall.
But the German government will have a key role as it is likely to pay billions of euros to support the firm.
This is because Opel has its headquarters in Germany, where it employs 25,000 of its 50,000 workers.
GM's other European business, Sweden's Saab, is being sold off separately.
FIAT
Italian carmaker Fiat has long been considered the favourite to buy Opel.
However, it has raised alarm bells amongst Opel staff after it warned of probable job losses.
Fiat has not outlined its plans - but says it will need to cut up to 10,000 jobs, or one-fifth of Opel's staff across Europe.
It has also warned that it will probably have to close one of Opel's four German factories, the engine plant at Kaiserslautern.
This is because at a time of weak global car sales, Fiat already makes the same engines at one of its own factories in Italy.
Fiat's bid for Opel is being led by its chief executive Sergio Marchionne.
Since he took up the top job at the firm in 2004 he has been instrumental in turning around its fortunes.
Fiat has also agreed a separate tie-up with US carmaker Chrysler as it seeks to create a global automotive giant.
The Italian firm is taking an initial 20% stake in Chrysler, which it hopes to extend once Chrysler is able to emerge from US bankruptcy protection.
In a reversal of fortunes, GM once had an option to buy Fiat, but ended that arrangement in 2005.
MAGNA
Magna is a Canadian-Austrian car parts and assembly group that employs 74,350 people.
It is the only one of the three contenders to outline its plans for Opel, saying that 10% of the new firm would end up in the hands of Opel employees.
Magna plans to inject between 500m and 700m euros into Opel - none of which would go to GM. However, GM would keep a 35% stake in the company.
It is making its bid in connection with Russia's state-run Sperbank and Oleg Deripaska's truck firm Gaz, and it has said it wants Opel and GM to gain 20% of the Russian market in the short term
Magna currently builds vehicles under contract for major carmakers, including Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.
Some German politicians have already indicated that Magna would be their preferred buyer for Opel, because it has pledged to keep open all the firm's four German plants.
However, IHS Global Insight analyst Tim Urqhart said that while this would inevitably count in its favour with a German election looming, it was "no basis to secure a sustainable long-term future for Opel".
Observers say that pledges to protect all the German plants mean that Opel's factory in Antwerp, Belgium, and the Vauxhall sites at Luton and Ellesmere Port in the UK, look more vulnerable.
Co-chief executive Siegfried Wolf has promised only to look for ways to keep these factories open
At the end of 2008 Magna had operations in 25 countries.
In the quarter to the end of March the firm made a loss of $200m (£126m), hit by the global slowdown in demand for vehicles.
RHJ INTERNATIONAL
RHJ International is a private equity holding company based in Brussels.
Timothy Collins founded the firm in June 2004, and is the single largest shareholder with a 15.2% stake. He is also chairman of the group's investment and strategy committee.
RHJ has controlling stakes in Asahi Tec Corporation, Columbia Music Entertainment, Honsel International Technologies, Niles, and Phoenix Resorts.
Its portfolio reflects an interest in the automotive parts sector, and Japanese firms.
RHJ defines its strategy as buying businesses that are "under-managed" but that have growth potential.
Staff total around 40 individuals, mainly in Brussels, Zurich and Tokyo.
Reports suggest that if RHJ were successful it - like Magna - plans to give Opel employees a 10% equity stake in the company.
BEIJING AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY CORPORATION
Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation is China's fifth largest car producer.
It makes Hyundai cars under contract for the South Korean company