Belgium Based RHJ to Offer 300 Million Euro for Opel Majority

FRANKFURT, July 14, 2009; Angelika Gruber, Christiaan Hetzner and Philipp Halstrick writing for Reuters reported that RHJ International plans to offer around 300 million euros ($419.6 million) for a stake of just over 50 percent in General Motors' German carmaker Opel, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

"It tends toward 300 (million) but is not quite that much," one person told Reuters. The other source said the equity would amount to "around 300 million".

The rest of the deal would be financed through 3.8 billion euros in loans guaranteed by the state.

RHJ will present its concept in Berlin to government officials on Wednesday, sources said.

This puts RHJ's bid below the 660 million euros that rival Beijing Automotive (BAIC) plans to invest for a 51 percent stake in Opel along with the Chinese carmaker's request for 2.64 billion euros in guarantees.

Frontrunner Magna and its Russian backer Sberbank originally offered to invest at least 500 million euros for a combined 55 percent stake. It is expected to ask the state to provide 4.5 billion euros in guarantees, by comparison.