FACTBOX: Key elements of Magna-led takeover of Opel

(Reuters) - Germany has clinched a deal with Canadian auto parts group Magna, General Motors and the U.S. government to save carmaker Opel from the imminent bankruptcy of its U.S. parent.

Below are the key developments in the deal.

CORNERSTONES OF DEAL

1. Magna will take over parts of the new European Opel activities from parent General Motors. This is, however, so far only included in a letter of intent and legally not yet binding. Magna could, in theory, still bail out.

2. Germany to provide 4.5 billion euros in loan guarantees including a bridge loan worth a maximum of 1.5 billion euros from state banks, which will be evenly divided by the federal government on the one side and the four state governments with Opel plants on the other: Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Thuringia and Rhineland-Palatinate.

3. Magna will loan Opel 300 million euros to cover short-term liquidity needs. Longer-term, Magna and Russian partner Sberbank plan to inject 500-700 million euros into Opel. None of the funds would be paid to GM.

4. A trustee scheme to prevent the parts of Opel in Europe that can survive from getting caught in any turbulence over GM. The trustee will be led by five people -- two picked by the German government and two from U.S. side. A fifth neutral representative will be included. The most important parts of GM's European operations will be put into the trustee, which will seek investors and take key decisions. It will have to be dissolved by 2014 at the latest.

OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE

The ownership structure of the new company could, according to Magna officials, look like this: Magna 20 percent, Russia's Sberbank 35 percent, 35 percent for GM and 10 percent could be in the hands of Opel staff or Opel car dealers.

Russian carmaker GAZ will serve as an industrial partner for Opel. Magna plans to gain 20 percent of the Russian market in the short term, before expanding this to 1 million units including light commercial vehicles. GAZ's biggest creditor is Sberbank.

GERMAN PLANTS, JOBS

The German government is counting on Magna sticking to their recent promises. That would mean all four plants in Germany are saved and about 2,600 of 25,000 jobs would be eliminated.

A plant in Antwerp, Belgium and the Vauxhall sites in England -- Luton and Ellesmere Port -- face a less certain future under Magna's plans. German government officials have talked of 2,600 job cuts in Germany and 7,500-8,500 elsewhere.

STATUS OF DEAL

So far there are letters of intent and accompanying agreements which now should be enacted as soon as possible. Magna expects to complete the transaction and take over the new Opel operations in about two months; the German government expects the "closing" by September.

NO DIVIDENDS

The newly restructured German Adam Opel will not pay any dividend until state-backed loans to save the carmaker are repaid, a German government official said.

OPEL'S MAIN PLANTS IN EUROPE

RUESSELSHEIM, Germany: About 15,600 employees build the Vectra and Signum models as well as the new Insignia. The site also houses a technical center that carries out research and development for the entire GM group.

BOCHUM, Germany: A staff of some 5,200 produced close to 200,000 Astra compacts and Astra-based Zafira vans last year.

EISENACH, Germany: About 1,800 workers assemble 3-door Corsa subcompacts at the plant.

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany: About 3,500 employees manufacture four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines and components in a plant situated in Rhineland-Palatinate.

ZARAGOZA, Spain: The factory built 423,000 vehicles last year, consisting of 5-door Corsas, the Meriva minivan based on Corsa architecture, and the Combo delivery van.

GLIWICE, Poland: Built about 170,000 vehicles last year, mainly Zafiras as well as Astras, making it a chief rival of Bochum for production volume.

ANTWERP, Belgium: Some 133,000 Astras were built here. Often considered to be one of the top candidates for closure.

ELLESMERE PORT, Britain: The site assembled over 110,000 Astras in 2008 under the Vauxhall badge, the British version of the Opel brand.

LUTON, Britain: Built about 60,000 Vivaro delivery vans last year, a larger sister to the Combo used for commercial purposes. Like Antwerp, a potential candidate for closure.

(Reporting by Gernot Heller and Christiaan Hetzner)