GM confident of financing Opel restructuring

By Kevin Krolicki

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co is confident that it can find the financing to keep and restructure its European Opel unit, Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said on Thursday.

Henderson declined to say how many jobs would have to be cut at Opel or what plants would be closed, saying those details would be presented to Germany and other European governments soon as part of a restructuring plan.

Opel has the liquidity it needs to pay off the 900 million euros (807.5 million pounds) remaining on bridge loan from the German government.

At the same time, GM can find ways to provide financing to Opel from its U.S. operations even after a restructuring funded by U.S. taxpayers that had placed some initial restrictions on the automaker's ability to shift funds to its overseas units.

GM's decision to keep Opel rather than selling a majority stake to a group that includes Canada's Magna International and Russia's Sberbank has touched off controversy in Europe.

Thousands of Opel workers in Germany on Thursday downed tools in a protest.

"We will be very shortly presenting our plan," Henderson told reporters at a briefing at GM's headquarters. "We feel confident that the plan will be financeable."

Henderson said GM could provide liquidity to Opel by reducing the royalties that the European unit would otherwise pay to headquarters.