GM, Germany, bidders hold new Opel talks

ARCHIV - Ein Logo von Opel ist am 23. Maerz 2009 vor einem wolkenverhangenen Himmel bei einem Opel-Haendler in Oberursel bei Frankfurt am Main zu sehen. Der Nervenkrieg um Opel spitzt sich zu: Begleitet von politischem Druck aus Deutschland sollte der Verwaltungsrat des US-Konzerns General Motors ab Montag, 3. August 2009, in Detroit ueber das Schicksal des deutschen Autobauers beraten. Am Dienstag wollen die beteiligten Unternehmen mit Vertretern von Bund und Laendern in Berlin einen Ausweg aus der verzwickten Lage suchen. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) --- FILE - An Opel logo is seen at an Opel car dealer in Oberursel, central Germany, March 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) (Michael Probst - AP)

BERLIN -- Talks between General Motors Co., the German government and two bidders seeking to buy GM's European Opel unit ended Tuesday with progress reported and GM saying it hopes to make a recommendation shortly on a buyer.

"Progress was made clarifying issues from the best and final offers received two weeks ago," GM said in a statement, without saying exactly when it would make a recommendation to the Adam Opel GmbH Trust board.

Earlier Tuesday, GM's chief negotiator said a decision on a buyer wasn't imminent.

GM's John Smith said he hoped the meeting at the Economy Ministry in Berlin "further clarifies the issues from the best and final offers received two weeks ago."

The two potential suitors for Opel are a consortium of Canadian car parts maker Magna International Inc. and Russian lender Sberbank; and Brussels-based investor RHJ International SA.

GM said its new board of directors was updated on efforts to sell Opel when it held its first meeting on Monday, but received no recommendation on a buyer, given that talks with the bidders are ongoing.

Asked about his expectations of Tuesday's meeting, Smith replied: "If you're asking, do I expect to select one bidder? No."

"Obviously we at GM will need to go back and take everything we've learned from today's proceedings, consider it internally and get to a position on making a recommendation," Smith told reporters.

He would not comment on what points GM felt it still needed to clarify, saying only that he wanted to see "a positive resolution for Opel."

On Monday, German government spokesman Klaus Vater said Berlin sees "encouraging" signs of progress in the negotiations, but did not elaborate.

The government has made clear that it prefers the bid from Magna and stressed that GM needs to take its views into account in deciding on a buyer, because it is offering financial help to make a deal possible.

The talks also are of interest to other European countries, including Britain, where Opel sister brand Vauxhall is based; and Belgium, Spain and Poland, where Opel has operations.

Under a structure created earlier this year to keep Ruesselsheim, Germany-based Opel out of GM's filing for bankruptcy protection, 65 percent of Opel has been formally under the care of a trustee since the beginning of June, with GM holding the remaining 35 percent.

Smith last week wrote that the Magna bid as submitted "contained elements around intellectual property and our Russian operations that simply could not be implemented." He said discussions were ongoing to resolve that.

RHJI's bid "would represent a much simpler structure and would be easier to implement," Smith wrote.

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AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.