YES TO FIAT-CHRYSLER SHAREHOLDERS. THE WITHDRAWAL IS UNKNOWN. CHINA AT 2%. MARCHIONNE: READY FOR THE LEAP IN QUALITY
"It's only the beginning. Whoever remains a shareholder, as I will remain, will have great satisfactions”. Thus, after three and a half hours of meeting, John Philip Elkann commented on the go-ahead of the shareholders for the merger operation which will give life to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. “After 115 years – added the CEO Sergio Marchionne – we are making an epochal leap. Thanks to the intense work of the last five years, we are now ready to make the leap in quality”.
It is with this promise from the president and the CEO that Fiat moved yesterday, shortly after two in the afternoon from the Lingotto, the plant built in the image and likeness of the plant wanted by Henry Ford in Baton Rouge, Michigan, to undertake its mission global around the world: in Amsterdam, where Fiat Finance is based, with which it merged yesterday under the new name of Fiat Chrysler Automobile; in Slough, a suburb of London where (at the explicit request of US funds) it has elected fiscal domicile in anticipation of equipping the headquarters in the British capital within the year; on Wall Street, where the group expects to raise part of the resources necessary to make the "qualitative leap".
That is, in figures, to multiply profits by five times by 2018, sales to rise by 60 percent to seven million vehicles, enough to make Fiat Chrysler the fifth world car power. 551,8 million shares voted in favor of the merger, 84,24% of the capital present against 100,1 million (15,28%) while shareholders with 3 million shares abstained, equal to 0,45, 52,44%. The capital present was equal to 2% of the total, among which the new 30,055% controlled by the People's Bank of China stands out, the central bank of Beijing which also owns the equity investments in Enel and Eni which is in fifth place among the shareholders of the new FCA behind Exor (2,76% plus 2,64% in treasury shares), Baillie Gifford &Co. (2%), Norges Bank and Vanguard International, both slightly above XNUMX%.
However, the outcome of the vote does not close the game of the merger. At Piazza Affari, the share fell by 0,80% to 7 euros, below the expected withdrawal value (185 euros per share). A significant threshold because, as Marchionne has repeatedly reiterated, the merger will not be valid if the right of withdrawal is exercised for a value of over 7,727 million euros, or for more than 500 million shares. But if all the shareholders who voted against asked for withdrawal, the threshold would be largely exceeded with a value exceeding 64 million. "We wouldn't see it as a failure - commented the CEO in a black sweater philosophically - we would wait and re-propose the merger in a few months or a year".
But today's vote, if there are no obstacles, will allow Fiat to land on Wall Street by mid-October. By that date, the preparation of the lines should start at Mirafiori, for the Maserati Levante SUV, and at Cassino for the new Alfa Giulia, tangible proof of the will to invest in Italy. As the president and the CEO of the group reiterated several times yesterday. John Philip Elkann, in particular, was also keen to reassure the shareholders of his desire to remain faithful to Fiat and to the world on four wheels, contrary to what Handlesblatt, the German business newspaper, claims, according to which the lawyer's nephew would like to sell to Volkswagen because he is skeptical about the future of the car. Nothing less true, assures the leader of the Agnelli clan. “I have read in some newspapers these days – said Elkann – that my family would be “tired” and would welcome a disengagement to devote themselves to less tiring or less risky activities. Here today I want to confirm my personal commitment and that of my family to continue supporting FCA".
“We are not leaving Italy” Marchionne reiterated dryly. “Being in the world does not mean becoming indifferent to local contexts, i.e. to the different places where FCA operates. In Italy, where our story began and where we want to continue to be active protagonists, and also in the world", he underlined, however, adding that "we can no longer afford the luxury of looking at our activities by reducing the perspective to historical borders or legal". But the promise remains to bring all employees back to the factory in Italy". Without state aid because, with regard to incentives, Marchionne cuts it short: “I hope that Minister Lupi doesn't do it. I wish they were eliminated completely, they drug the market, shift the dynamics. We have to let the market go as it should go”. Meanwhile Elkann smiles. From now on, thanks to the governance reform permitted by Dutch law, 30% of Exor will be worth 46% in the vote. And to control the absolute majority, 25,1% will be enough for him. Not bad, as long as the withdrawal doesn't play a bad joke.
