NOVO-OGARYOVO, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's prime minister welcomed on Friday a deal to buy a majority stake in Opel by Canadian parts supplier Magna and Russia's Sberbank as a "good market choice."
General Motors' board of directors announced on Thursday that it would sell 55% in its Opel division to Magna-Sberbank group. The move came after months of negotiations since a tentative agreement in May.
"I hope this is one of the first steps leading toward the real integration of the European economy," Vladimir Putin said speaking at the Valdai discussion club.
The deal is worth 5 billion euros ($7.2 billion), with 4.5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) coming from German government in loan guarantees and 500 million euros ($729 million) from Magna-Sberbank. Employees will hold 10% in the German automaker, and GM is left with a 35% stake.
Sberbank is acting as a proxy for Russian automaker Gaz, which is expected to eventually take over Sberbank's shares.
GM said a final agreement could be signed within a few weeks.
