The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Magna International was set to take over General Motors' Adam Opel, with a plan to assemble vehicles in Canada. The Globe's Greg Keenan writes that a 2009 deal fell apart when GM opted to hang on to Opel. The sighs of relief with the Magna-Opel deal not happening ran through shareholders, analysts and even Magna boss Don Walker. He said he never liked the deal because he did not "want to compete with our customers." Mr. Walker was co-chief executive officer of Magna along with Siegfried Wolf in 2009, when Magna made its second attempt to buy an automaker. Magna made a bid for Chrysler Group in 2007 but lost out to hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management. GM's strategy is much less global with the sale of Opel, which amounts to a withdrawal from the second-largest auto market in the world except for its Cadillac division and a couple of Chevrolet vehicles. As for Magna, buying Opel "just didn't make any sense for us from a strategy standpoint," Mr. Walker said. Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Matthew Stover agrees. He says, "Getting into the car business like that would have created so many complexities and issues."