General Motors Co. should decide this week on the future of its Opel unit and help resolve a difference of interests with Germany that has prevented action on behalf of the carmaker, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
"Every day counts for workers and for the economic situation" of Opel, Merkel said in a written summary of an interview with ZDF television. "I'm hoping that we can make progress in the new week." German government spokesman Klaus Vater confirmed Merkel's remarks, which are scheduled to be broadcast today.
Merkel, who restated her preference for an offer by Magna International Inc., said she "regrets" the failure of GM's board to take action when it reviewed bids for Opel on Aug. 21. A decision by GM would be "urgently necessary" because of Opel's "economic situation," she said.
GM's board is considering all options for Ruesselsheim, Germany-based Opel including rejecting the two pending bids by Magna and RHJ International SA and keeping it as a wholly owned subsidiary, a person familiar with the talks said. GM, which had run Opel since 1929, turned over control to a German-led trust when the company filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection in June.
"GM is now presented with two agreements that are ready for signing," the Chancellor told ZDF.
Jobs, Election
Merkel, faced with rising unemployment as national elections loom on Sept. 27, said Magna made a "very good offer" for Opel that she believes will secure more German jobs. Her grand coalition government of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats is seeking to protect about 25,000 Opel jobs in Germany as Europe's largest economy emerges from its worst recession since World War II.
Germany agreed to back Opel's sale with 1.5 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in short-term loans in May, picking Magna as the preferred bidder. Prime ministers from two of the four German states with Opel plants have said those funds won't be available to RHJ, whose assets include some former holdings of Ripplewood Holdings LLC, the private-equity firm founded by Timothy Collins.
GM's new 13-member board had already held one meeting, on Aug. 4, without an Opel decision. The board opted not to take action again after the Aug. 21 meeting, GM said in a statement.
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