Fiat-Chrysler to complete their merger by Oct 13, before the debut at NYSE
Yesterday Fiat officially announced its plans to complete the merger with its US subsidiary on October 12, before the debut at NYSE expected on October 13.
Fiat said on Tuesday the merger with its U.S. unit Chrysler will be effective as of Oct. 12 after all conditions for the tie-up to go through were met. The Italian automaker, which acquired full ownerships of Chrysler Group for $4.35 billion earlier this year, will put the final touches on a combination with a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Netherlands, Fiat Investments NV. The Dutch holding group will subsequently be renamed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Chrysler has come a long way since being bailout by the U.S. government and going bankrupt in 2009. Fiat received an initial 20% stake in Chrysler as the Big Three automaker emerged from 2009. Fiat exercised several options to increase its stake before agreeing with the United Auto Workers’ healthcare trust, VEBA, to buy the remaining 41.5% of Chrysler.
Fiat said the New York Stock Exchange has approved the listing of
FCA, now the world’s seventh-largest automaker. FCA is expected to begin
trading next Monday. Shares will also be listed in Milan, where trading
in current Fiat shares will end Friday. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat-Chrysler CEO, and his bankers, however, decided
to skip the “road show” that often sets the stage for an IPO.
The Italian car-maker long sought total ownership of its U.S. subsidiary, in part to gain access to Chrysler’s cash. In May, Fiat and Chrysler executives detailed an aggressive five-year strategy that calls for heavy investments in Jeep and Alfa Romeo.
Marchionne supposes Jeep will play a critical role in fueling FCA’s international sales. The company wants Jeep to more than double sales to 1.9 million vehicles over the next five years.
The company is re-launching the Alfa Romeo brand, which introduced
the two-seater 4C to the U.S. market during the summer.
Alfa Romeo forecasted annual sales of 150,000 in North America and 400,000 globally by 2018.
