The boards of the Peugeot family’s two holding companies have agreed to sell stakes in PSA Peugeot Citroën to Dongfeng Motor Corp. and the French government,
Bloomberg reported.
The holding companies currently control 25.5% of Peugeot’s capital and 38.1% of the voting rights, the report noted. “As part of the plan, the family will invest about 100 million euros to maintain a 14 percent stake,” the article said.
Dongfeng and the French government would each pay 750 million euros and receive holdings of about 14% each. Peugeot would hold a rights issue of about 1.4 billion euros to raise a total of 3 billion euros.
The deal must be approved by 66% of attendees at the company’s annual meeting, the Bloomberg article said.
According to the Bloomberg report, Robert Peugeot, who heads the family’s FFP holding company, wants the family to relinquish control of the company, while his cousin Thierry, who heads Peugeot’s supervisory board, wants to “maintain as much control as possible.” The report said Thierry wants Peugeot to sell shares on the market without investments from Dongfeng or France.
The website of French newspaper
Les Echos
posted a letter from Thierry to Robert that said, “I believe that the Peugeot family must continue to back Peugeot SA and not reduce its interest, and must participate as fully as possible in the capital increase announced by the group.”
Automotive analyst Erich Hauser of International Strategy & Investment Group told Bloomberg:
“I still think they should have a long hard think about whether the family should be this involved in the business. Only at Peugeot do you seem to have this multitude of family members trying to protect their own interests.”
(Source: Bloomberg, Jan. 30, 2014.)
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