GM starts search for Opel investor

NEW YORK: General Motors Corp, the biggest US automaker, hired Commerzbank AG to find an investor for its Opel unit in Europe, two people familiar with the matter said.

GM might sell a stake in Opel as part of the automaker���s effort to raise as much as 3.3 billion euros ($4.5 billion) in Europe, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because details of the plan aren���t public. The mandate was given to Commerzbank���s Dresdner division, the person added.

GM, operating with $13.4 billion in US aid and seeking an additional $16.6 billion, also is in talks with governments in Germany, the UK and Spain to obtain funds for Opel and the Luton, England-based Vauxhall brand.

GM plans to contribute 3 billion euros to support Russelsheim, Germany-based Opel. GM Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said the unit will run out of money to operate in the second quarter of this year without aid. Spokesmen for Frankfurt-based Commerzbank and Detroit-based GM declined to comment.

GM Europe, which includes the Saab brand, had $9.08 billion in losses from 2002 to 2008, burdened by costs for employee buyouts and other reorganization charges. Excluding these expenses, losses were $3.97 billion, according to GM data. Law firms Baker & McKenzie and Clifford Chance LLP have been hired to advise GM Europe, and Heidelberg, Germany-based law firm Wellensiek has been retained by GM���s Opel unit to advise on reorganization and insolvency options.

Turnaround specialist AlixPartners LLP is advising GM on the restructuring plans in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America. GM hired Roland Berger, a German management consultant, to mediate with the German government, the Ministry of Economics said in an e-mailed statement March 18.