Fiat’s board of directors met Sunday and gave company CEO Sergio Marchionne the authorization to seek a potential majority stake in GM’s European operations including the purchase of Opel.
“The Board also expressed its full support for the initiative to be undertaken over the next few weeks by its Chief Executive Officer, Sergio Marchionne, to assess the viability of a merger of the activities of Fiat Group Automobiles (including the interest in Chrysler) and General Motors Europe into a new company,” the board said in a statement on Sunday.
The 3-way alliance is expected to generate $105.84 billion in revenue a year.
A new company? According to the Wall Street Journal, Sergio is setting out on an “ambitious campaign to forge one of the world’s biggest auto makers by crafting a three-way alliance among Fiat, Chrysler and Opel.”
Just last week, Sergio signed a partnership with Chrysler to buy an initial 20 percent of the bankrupt automaker. According to the Financial Times Marchionne now wants to join Fiat with Opel, and GM’s other European operations, along with Fiat’s stake in Chrysler.
The board said that the new company will include the Fiat Group’s Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo mated to Chrysler and GM’s European operations.
Sergio will meet with senior German government officials today in Berlin.
- By: Omar Rana
Source: WSJ
