Magna International Inc. (MGA) Co-Chief Executive Siegfried Wolf said Wednesday he expects to sign off on a deal to acquire General Motors Corp.'s (GM) German unit Adam Opel GmbH in four to five weeks.

Magna International Inc. (MGA) has partnered with Russia's OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS) and OAO GAZ Group (GAZA.RS) to take over Opel, after the German government selected Magna as the successful bidder.

Wolf also said he expects the consortium's Opel entry to be completed by September.

At the briefing, Opel's labor representative Klaus Franz said hard times are ahead for Opel, and in particular for plants in Luton, Antwerp and Bochum. The aim of the labor council is to prevent forced layoffs and factory closures, he added, but couldn't offer any guarantees. Franz also said Magna's corporate culture fits well with Opel's.

-By Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 500; djnews.frankfurt@dowjones.com