Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot Owner Announce $48Bn Merger
Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA Group have announced the terms of a $48 billion merger that would create the world’s third-largest automaker and help spread the huge cost of developing electric and autonomous vehicles.
According to CNN BUSINESS, shareholders of each automaker would own 50% of the combined operation, thecompaniessaidinajointstatementon Thursday.Abinding agreement could be finalized within weeks, the statement said. Fiat Chrysler shareholders also would get a special one time dividend worth €5.5 billion ($6.1 billion) as part of the deal.
The combined company would be based in the Netherlands, which is the current headquarters of Fiat Chrysler, although it will keep a head office for its North American operations near Detroit. John Elkann, the US-born scion of the Italian family that founded Fiat, would be chairman of the combined company, while PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares would be CEO.
The combined company would have roughly 410,000 employees and annual revenues of $190 billion. Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) and PSA (PUGOY) sold a combined 8.7 million vehicles last year, just ahead of General Motors (GM), which sold 8.3 million, and not far behind Volkswagen (VLKAF) and Toyota (TM), which each sold over 10 million.
The merger comes amid a global auto sales slowdown, which could worsen as economies around the world slow or even fall into recession.
At the same time, carmakers are scrambling to invest in the electric and hybrid technologies needed to meet strict new emissions targets in China and Europe.
The autonomous vehicles of the future also present a threat to traditional industry business models. The huge amount of capital needed to meet these new challenges has forced some automakers to find partners and turned others into acquisition targets.
Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ executive director of industry analysis, said the planned merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA “isn’t really about product or expanding to new markets.” Rather, it’s about funding research into the vehicles of the future.
“The electrified, autonomous future everyone is waiting for just isn’t feasible without automakers merging and forming strategic alliances to share research and development costs,” she said. “This is a smart move by both Fiat Chrysler and PSA to ensure their companies continue to be viable and relevant as the industry evolves.”
The carmaker with the most urgent need to combine in this case was PSA, which has fallen behind on developing clean cars. Electric vehicles account for less than 0.3% of its overall sales, and it had to pay Tesla (TSLA) for credits needed to comply with EU emissions standards. Fiat Chrysler has also trailed larger rivals in developing electric vehicles.
Even the biggest players in the industry are making changes. Volkswagen (VLKAF) and Ford (F) are working together to develop electric and self-driving vehicles, while German carmakers BMW (BMWYY) and Daimler (DDAIF) have formed a joint venture that will develop driverless technology. Honda (HMC) has invested in General Motors’ (GM) self-driving car unit.
A history of mergers
It’s not the first time that PSA has used a merger to bulk up. In 2017 it paid $2.3 billion to buy GM’s European business, adding the Opel and Vauxhall brands as GM exited the continent. While GM lost about $22.4 billion in Europe over the 17 years before that deal, Opel and Vauxhall are now profitable for PSA.
Teaming up during times of adversity is also a familiar strategy for Fiat, which started the purchase of US rival Chrysler out of bankruptcy a decade ago.
It completed the merger five years later. But even following that deal, Fiat Chrysler was still significantly smaller than many rivals, putting it at a disadvantage in purchasing muscle as well as spreading out the cost of research and development.