Fiat confirms its views Opel

Fiat confirmed Sunday night to be in negotiations with General Motors to acquire the American manufacturer european subsidiaries, including the German Opel and Swedish Saab.

In a statement, Fiat says CEO Sergio Marchionne be considering over the next few weeks, "the viability of a merger of the activities of Fiat Group Automobiles (including the interest in Chrysler) and General Motors Europe into a new company" .

The purpose of these discussions is to form a new group that would therefore include Chrysler, which Fiat acquired this week part of the capital, the european subsidiaries GM (Opel, Saab and Vauxhall in Britain), and the Group's brands Fiat (Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari), a precise Fiat in this news release.

The annual income from this new manufacturer would amount to 80 billion euros.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is scheduled to meet Monday in Berlin German Ministers of Economy and Foreign Affairs to discuss his offer on Opel. GM is seeking a buyer for Opel as part of the restructuring plan it must present to the American president Barack Obama by June 1. If this plan is not satisfactory to the White House, General Motors will be placed in bankruptcy as Chrysler this week.

Shaken by the global economic recession, Opel needs 3.3 billion euros. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out direct state aid but that his government could help a possible investor through guaranteed loans.

Fiat and Chrysler announced Thursday an alliance, in parallel to the placement of American manufacturer under Chapter 11 of the American law on bankruptcy protection in order to carry has a major restructuring of its activity.

At the end of the bankruptcy proceedings, estimated at 60 days, Fiat should detain 20% stake in Chrysler, with the opportunity to see its share rise to 35% in increments of 5%, and an additional option of 16% in case repayment of its government loans by Chrysler.

In an interview published Sunday in Italian "Corriere della Sera" newspaper, the president of Fiat Luca Cordero di Montezemolo believes that Opel was "an ideal partner" and redemption "an extraordinary opportunity" for his group.

However, Fiat is not the only candidate taking over Opel. Automobile equipment manufacturer Magma Canadian International presented last week to the German Government a proposed acquisition.

Besides Fiat Group Automobiles includes the Fiat Group brand vehicles agricultural CNH, Iveco trucks and a media division.