(Repeats story issued Sept. 9)
* Magna-GM cooperation seen even if Opel bid fails-chairman
* Decision on Opel sale possible "any time"
* Says Magna made bid for Opel to boost efficiency
By Angelika Gruber and Christiaan Hetzner
COLOGNE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The founder and chairman of
Canadian auto parts supplier Magna
"We can always imagine that we would enter into a good cooperation with our customers," Frank Stronach told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry event.
"We were very close to sign a joint venture for the Russian
market between GAZ
GM's board of directors met on Wednesday to discuss a
possible sale of Opel to Magna or rival bidder RHJ
The board also wanted to evaluate whether GM could raise enough funds to pay back a 1.5 billion euro ($2.17 billion) bridge loan for Opel in order to regain full control of Opel.
Stronach said he expected to hear whether the board approved a sale to Magna "any time," but conceded that there was still a possibility it could take "a couple of weeks or even longer."
Some analysts believe GM wants to wait until after general elections in Germany before announcing a decision.
Magna had signed at the end of May a memorandum of understanding with GM to buy a majority of Opel that caused Germany to give Opel the bridge loan in the first place, but GM's management has since backed away from the deal.
"There are probably some people in General Motors management and board that say, 'We want to keep it so we can be a global company,' and others would say, 'But we have signed a contract and this could mean we lose market opportunities,' and so on. I can't speak for GM," Stronach said.
He said Magna made the bid for Opel in order to boost efficiency at the company through a more constructive give-and-take between management and unions, but he declined to comment on Opel's chances to remain competitive in the future under GM.
Opel labour leader Klaus Franz threatened on earlier on Wednesday that workers would no longer be prepared for wage concessions under GM since it plans to close as many as three of the four German plants.
"GM's viability plan foresees one plant per country," Franz told Reuters this week. He has thrown his entire weight behind a deal with Magna.
Stronach did not express interest in other carmakers if the deal with Opel did not succeed.
When asked specifically about whether he might look at
Volvo Cars, which Ford Motor Co
($1=.6898 Euro)
(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner and Angelika Gruber; Editing by Richard Chang)