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Strategies May 21, 2009, 5:00PM EST

The Skilled Hand Inside the Fiat-Opel-Chrysler Deal

German consultant Roland Berger downplays his role in the auto alliance, but his legendary connections could make all the difference

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Berger is helping Fiat win support for the deal from Germany's state leaders Wolfgang Wilde

By Jack Ewing

Munich - When German media showed Fiat (FIATY) Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne stepping out of a silver Maserati sedan near the German Economics Ministry on May 4, business insiders shook their heads in amazement. Not at Marchionne, but at the gray-haired man in a dark suit who emerged from the same car. Once again, Roland Berger, éminence grise of European management consultants, was in the thick of the action. The two men were seeking political blessing for Marchionne's plan to acquire General Motors' (GM) Germany-based Opel unit and set up a three-way alliance with Chrysler.

Critics in Germany's Bundestag immediately howled. While Berger was squiring Marchionne around Berlin, they pointed out, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, the Munich-based firm that Berger founded and still oversees, was advising GM on what to do with Opel.

Berger has a legendary knack for winning the trust of important people—even those who compete. He once counseled candidates for German Chancellor while they were running against each other. "He is one of the most connected businessmen I have ever met," says Thomas Middelhoff, former CEO of German media company Bertelsmann. Now 71, Berger founded his consulting firm in 1967 and built it into one of the only European rivals to McKinsey & Co. and Boston Consulting Group. Although he retired in 2003, and has since ceded all but a tiny share of his firm to his partners, he's still chairman of the board. And he sits on at least a dozen corporate boards or international advisory committees, including at private equity company Blackstone Group (BX) and Sony (SNE). Berger's net worth is estimated at $600 million.

In the Fiat-Opel-Chrysler talks, Berger downplays his role, saying he is only providing free, informal advice. "People call me up once in a while, asking what do I think about this or that," he says. But it's hard to imagine anyone more closely wired to all the egos involved. Fluent in Italian, Berger is pals with Fiat's Marchionne and sits on the carmaker's board (a position he has temporarily relinquished to avoid conflicts of interest). The attempt to meld Fiat, Opel, and Chrysler seems like a perfect opportunity for Berger to deploy his connections in politics and business and to play midwife to a historic merger. Berger, who first cultivated ties with Chancellor Angela Merkel in the 1990s, has been taking Marchionne to visit the prime ministers of German states with Opel factories, wooing support for a deal. (He says he knows all but one of Germany's powerful state leaders.) Also, he has tried to assuage union officials worried about job cuts at Opel.

HIGHLY VISIBLE

It's clear Berger supports Marchionne's view that the two European companies plus Chrysler must combine to achieve the sales volume needed for all three to survive. Berger helped Marchionne formulate his vision of an automaker that would offer buyers a wide range of models and brands, from Saab to Jeep, while sharing components such as engines and chassis. In the bidding for Opel, Fiat faces competition from Canadian-Austrian parts supplier Magna International and probably from Brussels buyout firm RHJ International. Unions support Magna because they believe the company would cut fewer jobs, but many industry observers regard Fiat as the bidder best able to offer Opel a chance at survival. It's a safe bet that Marchionne and government officials will seek Berger's counsel as they try to work out a plan acceptable to labor, management, and GM's U.S. government overseers.

Unlike most consultants, who prize anonymity, Berger is one of Germany's most visible business leaders, something that makes rivals grit their teeth.

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