Four German states where General Motors' Opel unit has factories are ready to provide financial assistance to the US auto giant, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday after meeting state chiefs. On Wednesday Merkel's government rejected a request from GM for 1.1 billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) in loan guarantees from a federal fund, saying GM has sufficient cash of its own, Agence France-Presse reported.

A German court has delayed a decision on the insolvency plan for department store chain Karstadt until July 16, a press spokesman for the court in Essen said Thursday, Dow Jones reported. Although the contract for the sale of Karstadt to Berggruen Holdings has been signed, the sale still depends on certain conditions being met, the court said. These relate in part to the negotiation of rental agreements between Berggruen and the owners of the real estate Karstadt rents. The agreement is also subject to approval by cartel authorities.

BP dismissed talk that it might seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the face of falling stock prices and threats from government officials to force the oil giant to pay more in costs related to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The looming insolvency of PrimaCom AG is edging closer since there are few signs that creditors and shareholders will reach an agreement ahead of a June 22 deadline, according to two persons familiar with the matter. PrimaCom's insolvency would boost the consolidation process in the German cable network sector with Kabel Deutschland Holding AG benefiting most. A plan to sell PrimaCom failed around six months ago, with the highest bidder offering €240 million. That apparently wasn't sufficient.

Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc. is objecting to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s attempt to consolidate legal action against Nomura's affiliates in three countries as the two investment banks battle over more than $1 billion of claims related to derivatives contracts, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In papers filed Wednesday with the U.S.

More than 40 U.S. lawmakers called today for BP Plc to suspend its dividend, stop its advertising and spend the money instead cleaning up its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BusinessWeek reported on a Bloomberg story. “Not a single cent” should be spent on television ads, said Representative Lois Capps, a California Democrat, at a news conference in Washington.

Marathon negotiations to overhaul Spain's rigid labor market collapsed on Thursday, raising the prospect of a tug-of-war between the government and trade unions in the troubled euro zone state, Reuters reported. The head of the World Bank meanwhile cast doubt on Europe's ability to surmount a sovereign debt crisis without restructuring liabilities of heavily indebted countries such as Greece -- a step euro zone leaders are refusing to contemplate.

TNK-BP Ltd., BP PLC's Russian venture, hopes a recent bankruptcy filing at a Siberian gas venture will speed up the government's takeover of the project, allowing TNK-BP to recover at least some of the roughly $900 million it invested there, interim Chief Executive Mikhail Fridman said Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under pressure from regulators, TNK-BP agreed to sell its controlling stake in the huge Kovykta field to state gas giant OAO Gazprom back in 2007. But Gazprom never closed the deal and executives say publicly the company doesn't need Kovykta's huge reserves.

Germany said it wouldn't provide General Motors Co. loan guarantees of more than €1 billion, or $1.19 billion, to help restructure its troubled Adam Opel GmbH unit, but Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to leave the door open for some form of aid, saying "the last word has not been spoken," The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Netherlands, home of the "Dutch model" welfare economy, is set to become the next European country to move toward fiscal conservatism in the wake of general elections Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Fears over the budget deficit have eclipsed concerns about immigration and the growing reach of Islam, after a series of warnings from domestic economists and the European Union about a looming debt problem. For decades, the Dutch government has been led by either the Christian Democrats or the Socialists.