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May 26, 2009, 10:20 GMT

Fiat's chief meets Merkel to push Opel takeover bid

Berlin - Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat, went Tuesday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Berlin office to advocate his plan for the Italian company to take charge of General Motors' European unit. Two other bidders are seeking control of the maker of Opel and Vauxhall cars. Merkel is to chair make-or-break talks Wednesday evening on the plans, which require huge government financial guarantees. German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, who has described Fiat's offer to date as 'inadequate,' attended the meeting with Marchionne. Guttenberg's staff denied a news report that the minister believed it would be best to let Opel fail. A newspaper, Bild, had said a ministerial note suggested the economically rational move would be to eliminate Opel in favour of more successful brands, but this was not politically sellable. But his staff said this argument had been written down by an outside consultant to the ministry, not by Guttenberg. General Motors employs 25,000 people in Germany. The other bidders for its plants there are Magna, a Canadian-based components group, and Ripplewood, a US private-equity investor.

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