Peugeot family to meet over future of its stake

REUTERS: The Peugeot family plans to hold a meeting in June to iron out differences over the future of its 14.1 percent stake in the French carmaker, Les Echos newspaper reported yesterday.

The meeting would mark a year since the family relinquished control of the Paris-listed group PSA Peugeot Citroen, opening up a rift between two senior family members, the newspaper said.

The French government and Dongfeng, PSA Peugeot Citroen’s Chinese partner, now both hold matching 14.1 percent stakes after a deal that injected fresh capital into the business and which was opposed by senior family member Thierry Peugeot.

He left the PSA Peugeot Citroen board in July last year.

The paper said he was expected to step down from the board of family holding company FFP at its shareholder meeting in May, but wants to keep a grip on the business, and has built another 0.3 percent stake in the company through a separate holding company, Sapar.

According to the report, some members of the Peugeot family fear that Robert Peugeot, the FFP’s representative on the PSA Peugeot Citroen board, wants to reduce the size of the family’s holding.

They want to see a resolution at the June meeting that would exclude such an option, even though Robert Peugeot said in March that no such move was on the cards.

The June meeting may also look at a contingency plan in case the government decides to reduce its stake, the newspaper reported.