Fiat's American appeal works. The market is betting on the birth of a newco listed on Wall Street after the Fiat-Chrysler merger. Today the Lingotto confirms a mid-afternoon rise of 0,8%% while the Ftse Mib rises by 0,03% and the day after a leap of 7,6%. And the Stars and Stripes engine, which has scaled up sales while the sector in Europe put it in reverse, has pushed the stock up 60% in one year. Complete with important broken psychological thresholds: the share is quoted today at 5,41 euros, a level not seen since August 2011. While waiting for the data from the European market in April, which rumors are expected to improve, Fiat rises on the expectations of an acceleration of the merger between the US subsidiary and Chrysler. This could also lead to the transfer of the headquarters from Turin to Detroit, a solution increasingly on the table in the face of the growing weight of North America on the group's turnover and profits against a Europe that today accounts for 24% of revenues (90% in 2004). And that it would also make financial sense in terms of easier access to the US capital market. The hypothesis has been circulating for some time but, according to Bloomberg, it would have been confirmed by "people close to the dossier".
The Detroit free press reports, citing corporate sources, that "the decision on the future Fiat-Chrysler headquarters will be delayed at least until the exact amount to be paid to Veba for the remaining 41,5% of Chrysler is determined." Indeed, amid Fiat's merger plans there is a dispute with the Veba union over the price of the first option for the purchase of 3,3% of the capital of the US car manufacturer. The word belongs to the Delaware court which will have to decide what is the value of the 41,5% of the shares in the hands of the former Chrysler employee fund. In the meantime, it is not excluded that diplomacy between the two fronts could reach an agreement sooner. Indeed, in recent weeks the contacts would have intensified. Obviously, there is also room for other issues on the negotiating table, such as the geographical distribution of functions and precisely the question of headquarters. In any case, Marchionne reassures, the location of the headquarters is irrelevant: regional offices are needed both in North America and in Europe, as well as in Latin America and Asia. “Its headquarters is an airplane” Chrysler spokesman Gualtiero Ranieri closes the question.
