RHJ International Seeks To Raise Liquidity Level, Sell Assets -CEO

Belgian investment company RHJ International SA (RHJI.BT) is seeking to increase its cash level for future investments and sell some assets, its chief executive said Wednesday, as speculation about the company's renewed interest in General Motors Corp.'s (GM) European unit Adam Opel GmbH grows.

The Brussels-based holding company is looking to "raise the liquidity level so that at the end we would have significantly more money than EUR200 million" for future investment, Chief Executive Leonhard Fischer told a conference call.

However, analysts doubt RHJ International has enough money to buy Opel.

Opel "is much too big," said KBC analyst Tom Simonts, pointing out that RHJ has at most just over EUR300 million to invest, and little assets to sell for good money. Their bid might be a move to raise their profile in Germany, he said.

According to press reports, RHJ is still in the running to buy Opel, after bidding for it earlier this year, should negotiations with the preferred bidder, the Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. (MGA), fail.

-By Alessandro Torello, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]