July 18 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co., seeking to salvage its European operations after emerging from bankruptcy, gave bidders for Opel two days to submit final offers.

Magna International Inc., RHJ International SA and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. have until the close of business on July 20 to make bids for the German carmaker, GM said in a statement yesterday. The offers will be reviewed and a buyer may be proposed to Germany’s Opel trust board by the following week, said three people with knowledge of the plans.

Germany, which agreed to provide 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in short-term loans for Opel’s sale, is pushing GM to pick Magna as the winner, two people familiar with the situation said earlier. While investment group RHJ would cut fewer than 10,000 jobs at GM’s European plants, compared with the 11,000 proposed by Magna, that doesn’t make the bid more attractive, German Deputy Economy Minister Jochen Homann said.

Magna, Canada’s largest car-parts maker, “still has an edge” because it has been in talks with GM longer, Homann said in a telephone interview after meeting with executives from Brussels-based RHJ in Berlin July 15. He added that “RHJ is catching up in the process.”

GM’s talks with bidders for Opel will clarify “final open questions” about financing in the next few days, German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said yesterday in Berlin. Talks with RHJ and Magna are more advanced than with BAIC, he said.

Germany chose a pairing of Aurora, Ontario-based Magna and Russian lender OAO Sberbank as the preferred bidder for Opel on May 30. Beijing Auto and Fiat SpA also submitted proposals for the carmaker, which is based in the Frankfurt suburb of Ruesselsheim and employs 55,000 people across Europe.

Russian Issue

The primary issues remaining with Magna have to do with the involvement of Russia, the people said.

Sberbank has proposed a direct investment in Opel’s Russian operations that would dilute GM’s ownership of the venture there more than originally agreed, said one person. Also, the proposal values Opel’s operations at 170 million euros, a fraction of GM’s valuation, the person said without giving a figure.

Most issues involving GM’s intellectual property have now been resolved, with one possible disagreement over the use of the technology by Sberbank, according to the person.

RHJ would invest about 275 million euros in Opel and seek government loans of about 3.8 billion euros in exchange for a 50.1 percent stake, the person said. GM could get about 39.9 percent with the rest going to employees, the person said.

Fiat is not expected to renew a bid for the unit, according to one of the people.

Government Review

Once received, the final bids and GM’s preliminary findings will be reviewed with the government in Germany and with other countries affected, as well as with the EU Commission and the Opel/Vauxhall Trust Board, set up by Germany as part of the agreement for government bridge loans, GM said in a statement.

The Detroit-based company will present the Opel trust board with preliminary analysis by July 22, one of the people said. GM intends to have a recommendation by the following week to present to its board of directors and the U.S. Treasury. The U.S. government controls 60.1 percent of GM after it emerged from a U.S.-backed bankruptcy on July 10.

The recommendation, if approved, could come back to the Opel trust board for review that same week, the person said. The trust board must approve any bid before a deal is signed.

Spokesmen at GM Europe, RHJ, Magna and Fiat declined to comment. Wang Hong, a Beijing Auto spokesman, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Ripplewood Holdings

RHJ has automotive assets including some former holdings of Ripplewood Holdings LLC, the New York-based private-equity firm founded by Timothy Collins. RHJ said July 13 it was in “advanced” talks about acquiring a majority holding in Opel.

Magna’s group has offered to invest 500 million euros for 20 percent of Opel’s equity, leaving GM and Sberbank with 35 percent each and Opel workers with 10 percent.

Homann, who leads talks with GM and bidders for Opel, said RHJ is calling for no more than 3.8 billion euros in state loan guarantees, compared with 4.5 billion euros requested by Magna.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.net; Chris Reiter in Berlin at creiter2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 18, 2009 00:01 EDT