US-based automotive firm General Motors (GM) has confirmed it has received three final offers for majority stakes in its European Opel unit. The bidders are Canadian car parts maker Magna, Belgian-based investment firm RHJ International and China's state-owned Beijing Automotive Industries Holding Co (BAIC). ┬á Canadian Magna remains the favourite to buy a majority stake in Opel, having made last-minute alterations to its bid by diluting its Russian backer Sberbank's stake to 27.5 per cent and upping its original 20 per cent stake to the same amount.

ChinaÔÇÖs sovereign wealth fund has bought 1.1 per cent of UK alcoholic drinks firm Diageo, it was reported today. In a move to diversify its investments, China Investment Corporation (CIC) now has a stake in the drinks maker worth ┬ú221 million. CIC has recently been making investments outside the financial sector, including some in mining and property.

New York-based bank CIT Group has approved a $3 billion rescue loan from major bondholders in order to avoid bankruptcy.  The loan is designed to give the company, which specializes in lending to small and mid-sized businesses, more time to restructure some of its debt payments. The Obama administration had said on Wednesday it would not offer a bailout to CIT. At least six large CIT bondholders, including Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco), are said to be financing the rescue loan.

South African President Jacob Zuma has appointed Gill Marcus to the position of governor at the South African Reserve Bank, to take over from Tito Mboweni when his term expires in August. Marcus is likely to officially take over in November, when Mboweni, who was initially appointed for a third five-year term, has said he will leave.  Johannesburg-born Marcus was deputy minister of finance before becoming deputy governor at the central bank from 1999 to 2004. She is currently chair of South AfricaÔÇÖs largest banking group, Absa, and has also been an ANC spokeswoman.

Japanese car giant Nissan is expected to announce a new generation of electric cars to be built at its Sunderland plant that could save at least 4,000 jobs.┬á  A joint announcement is expected from Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, who is due to visit the plant today, and NissanÔÇÖs vice president Trevor Mann. Lord Mandelson is expected to tell some of the factoryÔÇÖs 4,200 workers of the creation of a "low-carbon economic area" in the North East of the country. In April, the European Investment Bank approved funding totaling hundreds of millions of pounds for NissanÔÇÖ

Latin American airline Copa has placed an order for thirteen Boeing 737-800 planes, worth a┬átotal of┬á$1 billion.  This brings the total number of 737 aircraft ordered by the firm to twenty-seven.┬á Panama City-based Copa, which flies to destinations throughout North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, said it expects delivery of the thirteen new planes to take places between 2012 and 2015.

African mining firms Randgold and AngloGold Ashanti have joined forces to launch a $488 million bid for Australian mining company Moto Goldmines.  Moto, which is developing a large gold deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has already agreed a takeover deal with Canadian firm Red Back Mining. Randgold is leading the $488 million bid and would sell 50 per cent of Moto to AngloGold if it is successful.

General Motors (GM) has announced it will invest more than $1 billion in the development of two new cars in Brazil.┬á  The Brazilian market is a priority for GM, which experienced record sales of around 580,000 vehicles there in 2008, thanks to BrazilÔÇÖs healthy economy and a government tax break which has enabled many citizens to own cars for the first time. One new small car and one medium-sized vehicle, aimed at the domestic market, will be developed at the Gravatai plant in the south of the country, where the bulk of the money will be invested.

State-run Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd (GASCO) has awarded contracts for gas projects worth a total of $9.2 billion dollars to foreign firms, it announced today. GASCO, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, has confirmed it has awarded contracts for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPC) works for the Integrated Gas Development (IGD) project at the Habshan and Ruwais gas plants in Abu Dhabi. Under the IGD project, the plants will process gas produced offshore, part of a wider scheme to boost Abu DhabiÔÇÖs gas supply by around one bil

A Spanish-led consortium has won a $3 billion contract to expand PanamaÔÇÖs famous inter-oceanic canal. Grupo Unidos por el Canal, led by Spanish construction firm Sacyr Vallehermoso, will design and build a new set of locks and water-saving basins on the 80km waterway, which is currently undergoing works to widen it worth a total of $5.25 billion. The winning $3.02 billion bid, which beat that of a group led by US firm Bechtel, is the largest single contract awarded so far as part of the expansion works. The consortium will begin building the locks on the canal within t