Europe

Fiat SpA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has agreed to hold talks with Italian government officials and unions in an effort to avoid labor opposition that could derail his plans to make Fiat one of the world's largest car makers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Italian Industry Minister Claudio Scajola on Friday released excerpts of a letter Mr. Marchionne recently sent the minister, pledging to meet with the Italian government and unions as soon as Fiat knows the outcome of its proposed merger with Opel, the German unit of General Motors Corp.

Representatives from Opel's 4,000 dealers in Europe are expected to vote in favor of taking a direct equity stake in the ailing German carmaker when they meet in Vienna on Friday, Reuters reported. The umbrella association Euroda wants all of its dealers to contribute 150 euros from every sold car over the next three years into a joint fund that could raise as much as 500 million euros in fresh equity. Together with Opel's 50,000 European workers, they would like to hold a blocking minority in any new Opel company.

Europe’s economy contracted at the fastest pace in at least 13 years in the first quarter as companies cut output and jobs to survive the worst global slump in more than six decades, Bloomberg reported. Gross domestic product in the 16-member euro region dropped 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter, when it fell 1.6 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That’s the biggest drop since the euro-area GDP data were first compiled in 1995 and exceeded the 2 percent decline economists expected in a Bloomberg News survey.

The German government wants more detailed concepts in the next week from the two rival groups interested in investing in General Motors unit Opel, Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Guttenberg, speaking to reporters after a meeting of top government officials on the Opel matter, said Berlin wanted Opel assets placed with a trustee in the event that GM filed for bankruptcy before a deal with investors had been concluded. Read more.

The Hungarian forint may tumble as much as 13 percent against the euro, reversing a two-month rally, as the nation’s economic slump deepens, Bloomberg reported. The forint lost 3.04 percent versus the euro in the past two days, the biggest drop in emerging markets, after rising as much as 13 percent since March 6. The country is suffering as the euro area, which buys 57 percent of its goods, reduces purchases of products manufactured in Hungary such as Audi cars and Nokia mobile phones. Exports fell 18.2 percent from a year ago in March, according to government figures.

RHJ International, a European buyout firm with holdings in the auto-parts industry, has emerged as a suitor for General Motors Corp.'s European operations, a person familiar with the matter said, adding to the list of possible buyers scrambling to strike a deal with the U.S. car maker before the end of the month, The Wall Street Journal reported. Brussels-based RHJ is considering an offer for GM operations including Adam Opel GmbH in Germany, this person said.

In a related story, Bloomberg reported that Germany has allocated enough funds to deal with toxic assets, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said, seeking to tackle the $1 trillion banking crisis without forcing taxpayers to spend more on bailouts in an election year. The government’s Soffin bank-rescue fund has €260 billion ($356 billion) left, with a maximum of €190 billion in toxic assets still on banks’ books, he said. Chancellor Business owners have complained that Steinbrueck stalled as he sought to limit the burden to taxpayers before Sept. 27 national elections.

The U.K. Treasury will call for faster payments to creditors and greater clarity on trades in the event an investment bank collapses, an effort to overhaul insolvency law after the demise of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Bloomberg reported. Investors will have more protection and information to determine the legal position of outstanding trades once liquidators have been called in. The proposals to reshape insolvency rules were published in London yesterday, forming the basis for a formal consultation later this summer. The U.K.

The African Development Bank is seeking to triple its capital base to accommodate surging demand for emergency loans from African states and businesses hit by falling export income and sharp declines in foreign investment and remittances. Donald Kaberuka, the AfDB’s president, will put the plans to the bank’s annual general assembly in Dakar this week in one of the first tests of developed countries’ commitments to financing an economic rescue package for Africa.

Germany's economy minister was quoted as saying Saturday that questions remain over plans by both Fiat SpA and auto parts maker Magna International Inc. to invest in General Motors' main European unit, Opel, and stressed that he is equally open to both suitors, the Associated Press reported. Fiat's chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, has visited Germany twice in the past week to present officials his plan to make GM Europe, including German-based Adam Opel GmbH, part of a global powerhouse also including Chrysler.