With GM Europe confirming yesterday that it has received three bids for its Opel/Vauxhall manufacturing operations, Fiat Group has announced that it has retained three leading financial institutions - Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit Group and Goldman Sachs - to guide a successful Fiat-Opel merger towards a European stockmarket listing.

In a statement issued in Turin yesterday, Fiat announced that: "Fiat S.p.A. is pleased to announce that it has secured the support of three financial institutions in its current efforts to act as consolidator in the European car sector with the ultimate objective of carving out these operations from the Group as a Newco and eventually list Newco securities in the major European financial markets. Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit Group and Goldman Sachs have been selected as global coordinators and will assist and guide Fiat in all the required operations in the months to come," the press release added.

"I am delighted that we are going to be able to rely on the expertise and financial strength of these institutions in such a crucial time for the development of the automotive sector and Fiat in particular. Our long standing relationship with these houses, who have been close and participative in the reshaping of Fiat in the last few years, gives us the required comfort and assurance to undertake these efforts," commented Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne who is the driving force behind the plans to create a giant new carmaker that would comprise of Fiat, Opel/Vauxhall and Fiat's 20 percent stake in Chrysler. "Their strength and financial expertise will ensure that we will develop and deliver the optimal structures for the Group going forward, for the ultimate benefit of all stakeholders," Marchionne added.

GM has confirmed that the expected three bids have arrived within the deadline framework for its European car making division. As well as Fiat's very vocal bid, Canadian/Austrian vehicle components manufacturer Magna International, and Brussels-based private equity house RHJ, have both submitted detailed proposals to take a stake in Opel/Vauxhall this week. "'Three offers have arrived," a GM Europe spokesman confirmed yesterday.

Meanwhile with Opel's powerful unions favouring Magna's bid and being reportedly unimpressed with the substance of the Fiat proposals after a meeting with Marchionne at the headquarters of IG Metall in Frankfurt in recent days, Fiat Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has said that factory closures cannot be ruled out either in Germany or Italy. "We can’t talk about it before knowing whether the deal will happen or not," Montezemolo told reporters during a conference in Rome yesterday. "The important thing is we presented an offer by the deadline and it’s an attractive package." He added that: "we’ll talk about this later, at this point we’re waiting."