Car parts manufacturer Magna has agreed to buy GM Europe, which includes the Opel and Vauxhall brands, according to BBC News. The German government still needs to approve the deal, but may choose insolvency instead.
Fiat, the other potential buyer, elected not to attend today's talks. GM is expected to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.
The German government will be meeting later today to discuss whether to approve the deal. The hesitation comes due to reports that it may be cheaper to allow GM Europe to enter insolvency before its purchase. Germany wants to keep GM Europe alive to protect manufacturing in that country, but doesn't want to spend anything like the tens of billions of dollars the US government has invested. Germany has already issued nearly $2 billion in loan guarantees to the company. [via BBC]