Fiat CEO says Opel offer will be 'better than cash'

LONDON: Fiat SpA Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said his company���s takeover offer for General Motors Corp���s Opel unit will include assets that are ���better than cash���.

Marchionne, who spoke in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Frankfurt, said he hasn���t yet submitted a proposal for Opel. ���You���re getting a whole pile of assets that produce cash, which is as good or probably better than cash.��� The German government has set a deadline of tomorrow for investors to submit bids for Opel.

GM, facing bankruptcy if it doesn���t reorganize by June 1, is willing to sell a majority of Opel to secure the unit���s survival and has estimated the division needs 3.3 billion euros ($4.1 billion) in aid from European governments. Fiat and Magna International Inc, both vying for a stake in Opel, will probably face competition for the holding, Klaus Franz, the division���s top labor leader, said in an interview.

���With the financial weakness of both partners and the dependence on the German government���s goodwill to make the alliance come to fruition, there are a lot of obstacles to overcome that may impede the pure industrial logic, before Fiat/Opel is a done deal,��� Cheuvreux automotive analysts wrote in a note.

Marchionne met in Frankfurt on Tuesday with the head of Germany���s IG Metall labor union, Berthold Huber, in a bid to ease worker concerns over the manufacturer���s plans for Opel. The Fiat executive said he ���didn���t discuss numbers with anybody��� regarding potential job cuts.

���The real issue is that it���s not just an Opel issue, it���s an industry question,��� Marchionne said. ���We do have a structural overcapacity problem in the industry across Europe and in the US. We need to act European in this context.���