MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - Canada's Magna and Russia's Sberbank will pay 100 million euros ($139 million) upfront as part of the deal to buy struggling German auto maker Opel, a Russian business paper said on Tuesday.
The German government, Magna International and Sberbank, reached the deal on May 30 for the consortium to take over Opel, part of U.S. car giant General Motors. Russian truck maker GAZ, owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska is acting as industrial partner.
Magna, Canada's largest auto-component maker, will acquire a 20% stake in Opel while Russia's state-owned Sberbank will get 35%, with carmaker GAZ. The consortium will become the majority shareholder, with GM retaining 35% and Opel 10%.
According to Vedomosti, Magna and Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, will provide another 400 million euros ($556 million) as an interest-free loan to Opel.
The loan will eventually be converted to Opel shares through convertible bonds, with 50 million euros ($69.5 million) due on January 1, 2011, an additional 50 million euros due on January 1, 2012 and the remaining 300 million euros ($417 million) due on January 1, 2013, the paper said.
GM will also receive 200 million euros ($278 million) in Opel's preferred shares in January 2011 and start receiving the German auto maker's 9% dividend from 2013. Opel will also pay GM 300 million euros ($417 million) in cash in January 2018, Vedomosti said.
Vedomosti said its information on the Opel deal was based on a report prepared by the German Economy Ministry and obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
