UPDATE: German Ministry: Government, RHJ Meet On Opel Wed Afternoon

German government officials will meet with Belgian investment group RHJ International SA (RHJI.BT) over its takeover bid for General Motors Corp.'s (GM) Adam Opel GmbH unit Wednesday afternoon, but no decision is expected, according to the economics ministry.

Economics ministry spokeswoman Beatrix Brodkorb told reporters that the meeting of the government's Opel negotiation team signals no preference by the government for any bidder for Opel.

"They will provide information on the state of talks," Brodkob said. "This is a meeting on a working level and therefore no decision can be expected."

The economics minister will not attend the meeting, she said, but Deputy Economics Minister Jochen Homann will attend.

She stressed this is a purely an information meeting, not a negotiating meeting.

Media reports have said that RHJ aims to take between 51% to 55% of Opel, GM's European subsidiary. RHJ's plan rules out any plant closures in Germany, but GM Europe operations elsewhere in Europe will not all be spared. RJH also doesn't plan a quick sale back to GM following restructuring at Opel.

Other bidders for Opel are Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. Ltd., which is offering to invest EUR660 million for a 51% stake in Opel, and Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. (MGA).

In May, the government selected Magna, which has teamed up with Russian automaker OAO GAZ Group (GAZA.RS) and Russian state-controlled OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS), as the preferred bidder for Opel

Government spokesman Thomas Steg said GM's negotiations over the sale of Opel haven't yet been concluded. He also said that GM's and Magna's Memorandum of Understanding and Germany's state aid linked to the MoU remain a good basis for negotiations and Opel's future.

He stressed that any federal and state government help for Opel would have to be re-negotiated if GM chose a different buyer.

"If GM wanted to close the deal with a different buyer (to Magna), then one has to see what this (other buyer) expects from the federal government and the state (governments), and this would then have to be negotiated," Steg said.

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-By Andrea Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]