General Motors Corp.'s (GM) European division Wednesday signaled it is open to selling a stake or a forming a strategic alliance with a partner.

"If it makes sense for the sustainable success of GM Europe and Opel, management is also willing to negotiate partnerships and shareholdings by third parties," said the company and labor representatives in a joint statement.

They added that the company will immediately enter talks with labor representatives over a restructuring program aimed at shaping a sustainable financial basis for the operations.

In a joint statement, the two sides said they will examine possibilities to see how forced layoffs and plant closures can be avoided.

 
   Company Web site: www.gm.com 
 
   -By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512; christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com