The New Opel,Reviews

When General Motors entered negotiations to sell a majority stake in its long-time European brands, New Opel and Vauxhall, it worried those who remembered how Chrysler Corporation's Carter-era government loans forced it to sell off foreign interests and concentrate on North American production.

TERMS DESCRIBED IN THE MOU ARE:
Magna and its partner, Russian government-controlled Sberbank, will own 55 percent in exchange for about $500 million, $450 million of that in cash. Sberbank is proxy for Russian automaker GAZ, which is undergoing its own reorganization, and will take over as Magna's partner in 2010.

M retains 35 percent. The remaining 10 percent goes to Opel and Vauxhall employees.
German and/or European Union banks will extend a total of about 4.5 billion euros in loans to Opel/Vauxhall (about U.S. $6.6 billion at the time of the MOU announcement).

Any new Opel technology under development may have to be shared with the rest of GM after the deal is completed, only if Opel's new majority owners agree. Magna and GAZ will control technology and platforms that Opel designs and/or builds in Germany.