Peugeot Shareholders Back Fiat Chrysler’s $52bn Merger

Shareholders in Peugeot owner PSA have given the green light to the French company’s merger with Fiat Chrysler.

The move is one of the last steps towards creating the world’s fourth largest automaker.

The new combined company will be worth $52bn (£38bn) and will be known as Stellantis, which means to brighten with stars.

Execs have said the deal will provide significant cost savings and help keep both businesses competitive as the auto industry adapts to challenges such as the rise of electric vehicles.

The merger was first announced in late 2019 and is expected to be fully finalised by the end of March. It was approved by EU competition chiefs before Christmas.

“We are ready for this merger,” PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares told an online meeting of shareholders on Monday.

He said the final date for the closure of the deal would be announced once all shareholder approvals were granted.

Shareholding structures will be shaken up as part of the merger, with existing double voting rights to be scrapped.

These rights are accrued over time and give investors more weight in decisions.

The tie-up between France’s PSA and Italian-American Group Fiat Chrysler has led to concerns about possible factory closures. The group is set to have spare production capacity of around six million cars. PSA, which employs around 3,000 workers in the

UK under its Vauxhall brand, pledged not to close any factories in November.

Yahoo Finance

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