German Company Offers GM $1.3 Billion To Buy Opel And Turn It Green

[AVANTI R5]

Solarworld AG, Germany's third- largest solar company, will offer to buy the German operations of General Motors Corp.'s Opel division and transform it into a green carmaker.

The solar-panel maker wants the world's largest carmaker to pay it about 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to take over Opel's 25,700 German workers, the Bonn-based company said today in a statement. GM would also have to cut ties with the Ruesselsheim, Germany-based company it acquired in 1929. Solarworld slumped as much as 21 percent in Frankfurt trading.


Solarworld said it could make 250 million euros in cash available and provide 750 million euros in credit lines, pending government approval, to acquire Opel's four German factories and GM's development center in Ruesselsheim.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive

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[AVANTI R5]

MUNICH -- General Motors today said its German subsidiary Opel is not for sale.


The company's comments came after German solar company SolarWorld announced
earlier today a surprise plan to offer to buy Opel's four German plants as well as its research center in Rüsselsheim, Germany.


This is pure speculation. Opel is not for sale," GM Europe spokesman Nelson Silveira told Automotive News Europe. He declined to comment further.


SolarWorld CEO Frank Asbeck told Reuters his company's offer for the Opel plants was serious, but declined to detail his strategy for Opel following a potential takeover.
The Bonn-based company said in a statement it wanted to turn Opel into the first "green" auto company in Europe, making its offer conditional on a complete separation of Opel from its ailing U.S. parent General Motors.


SolarWorld said it would also seek compensation payments for Opel's German staff positions totaling 1 billion euros -- matching the figure the car maker had said it would seek in state funding.


"SolarWorld can provide Opel 250 million euros in cash and 750 million in bank credit lines subject to a guarantee from the federal government," the company said.
Its CEO Frank Asbeck told Reuters: "We've made a serious offer to General Motors to acquire the four German sites as well as the research and development facility in Ruesselsheim."


"We're waiting for a response from GM. Big companies work slowly." Asbeck added: "This is no gag. It's a serious offer."
Analysts were also dismissive of the SolarWorld plan, which comes days after Opel announced it was seeking about 1 billion euros in aid from the German government because its financial situation is threatened by the GM's U.S troubles.
"Neither the government nor SolarWorld can separate Opel from GM. I think SolarWorld's plans are unrealistic," said Daniel Schwarz, an analyst at Commerzbank.
Christian Breitsprecher, an analyst at Sal Oppenheim, called the plan "pretty crazy."


SolarWorld is one of the three largest solar energy groups in the world and has more than 2,000 employees. It had sales of just under 700 million euros last year.


It was founded in 1998 in Bonn by Asbeck. The firm benefited enormously from new energy laws set up by the Social Democrat-Greens government after it took power in 1998.


The company's announcement came as Opel vowed to slash production to help it cope with a deepening crisis in the auto industry that is sweeping manufacturers across the globe.
The head of Opel, Hans Demant, told the Wednesday edition of Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the company was preparing steps to help it weather a demand slump in the wake of the financial crisis.
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"We are preparing ourselves for bad times and are lowering our volume plans for 2009 by a good 10 percent," he said.
Opel is the first European carmaker to seek government help. It has blamed its troubles on those of GM, which itself is lobbying the U.S. Congress for government bridge loans to survive the downturn.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Opel representatives on Monday. She has said the government is ready to help Opel, which employs about 25,000 in its German plants in Ruesselsheim, Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach.
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But she has described Opel as a special case and played down the possibility of broader government help for the auto sector, despite calls for aid to be extended to other companies.
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Germany's state and federal governments have said they will decide by Christmas whether to extend a guarantee of 1 billion euros to Opel, should GM file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S.
Opel has been part of GM since 1929.
Reuters contributed to this report
***********
COPING WITH CRISIS
The company's announcement came as Opel vowed to slash production to help it cope with a deepening crisis in the auto industry that is sweeping manufacturers across the globe.
***********
The head of Opel, Hans Demant, told the Wednesday edition of Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the company was preparing steps to help it weather a demand slump in the wake of the financial crisis.
***********
"We are preparing ourselves for bad times and are lowering our volume plans for 2009 by a good 10 percent," he said.
Opel is the first European carmaker to seek government help. It has blamed its troubles on those of GM, which itself is lobbying Congress for government bridge loans to survive the downturn.
***********
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Opel representatives on Monday. She has said the government is ready to help Opel, which employs about 25,000 in its German plants in Ruesselsheim, Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach.
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But she has described Opel as a special case and played down the possibility of broader government help for the auto sector, despite calls for aid to be extended to other companies.
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"I don't share the view that Opel is a special case," Peter Mueller, the conservative premier of the state of Saarland, told German public television station ZDF.
"There should be help for all," Mueller said, adding that aid should not be limited to the auto industry

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...&rssfeed=rss01

[bemani]

Lol. Now all the vultures want a piece of GM for cheap.

[Gilla-Machster]

So true. I am planning on doing the same myself. Low balling hard on the G8.

[Hazdaz]

I read this news story on another site and thought it was quite interesting... in a weird way of course.

They might claim to be serious, but offering up only $1.3B for Opel sounds like a joke... even with GM's financial problems. I posted about 2 other recent financial dealings this past week, and Suzuki is valued at almost $8 Billion (not sure if that's just the car company or also the bike company). That means to me that $1.3B for Opel (who I assume sells more cars than Suzuki) is an extremely unrealistic number.

This offer is just so out of left-field that you don't know what they were thinking.

[Chromer]

Originally Posted by Hazdaz

I read this news story on another site and thought it was quite interesting... in a weird way of course.

They might claim to be serious, but offering up only $1.3B for Opel sounds like a joke... even with GM's financial problems. I posted about 2 other recent financial dealings this past week, and Suzuki is valued at almost $8 Billion (not sure if that's just the car company or also the bike company). That means to me that $1.3B for Opel (who I assume sells more cars than Suzuki) is an extremely unrealistic number.

This offer is just so out of left-field that you don't know what they were thinking.

Hey, why pay $1.3B for Opel when you could get all the GM brands for just $400M more? (Market cap was $1.7B at the close today).

"Buy Hummer from us and we'll throw in Saab and Pontiac to sweeten the deal..."

[Clark_Kent]

GM is trading at a pivotal $1.26 a share at the close today. In the grand scheme of things GM could burn through $1.3B in...well, no time at all.

[doylfish]

the whole situation is a huge joke..i'm just wondering how long it will take for the final collapse..even though the gov't is pledging some $25 billion supposedly..it's going to all big 3 auto manufacturers and that really won't cover squat

[jbpsti]

Good! Take GM and its owner's out of their misery!

[Spenk]

Win-win for GM.

They can offload Opel and generate some $$, and kill Saturn (which has STILL never seen DOLLAR ONE of profitability!) at the same time.

[Hazdaz]

Originally Posted by Spenk

...which has STILL never seen DOLLAR ONE of profitability!...

GM doesn't break out divisional profits/losses, so I'd love to know how you can say Saturn has never been profitable.
Oh yea, and Opel is one of GM's best run divisions, but you want to get rid of them?!

[registering]

Originally Posted by Hazdaz

That means to me that $1.3B for Opel (who I assume sells more cars than Suzuki) is an extremely unrealistic number.

This offer is just so out of left-field that you don't know what they were thinking.

I wouldn't be so sure. Suzuki used to be Asia's 3rd largest car manufacturer, now they're ranked 12th largest car manufacturer in the world. I don't know where Opel stands but I wouldn't assume it's larger than Suzuki (maybe it is). When I last visited Korea/Vietnam Suzuki was everywhere but no Opels; when I lived in Germany Opel wasn't everywhere but Suzuki had a presence also. Granted that could have all changed by now.

[Clark_Kent]

Originally Posted by Spenk

Win-win for GM.

They can offload Opel and generate some $$, and kill Saturn (which has STILL never seen DOLLAR ONE of profitability!) at the same time.

It doesn't work like that my friend.