Chairperson of the managing board of French
carmaker Groupe PSA Carlos Tavares delivers a speech during a press conference
to present the 2016 results at the Groupe PSA headquarters in Paris on February
23, 2017.<br />ERIC PIERMONT / AFP
The supervisory board of French carmaker PSA has approved the
takeover of General Motors’ European subsidiary, which includes the Opel and
Vauxhall brands, and a formal announcement is expected on Monday, an source
close the deal said.
The move will see PSA regain its position as Europe’s
second-largest automobile manufacturer, after Germany’s Volkswagen, the source
said on Friday. That position is currently held by rival French automaker
Renault.
The negotiations, revealed last month, were “swiftly concluded,”
the source added.
The
deal “will be sealed on Monday morning in France and in Germany,” the source
said, adding that both sides “were very enthusiastic and satisfied.”
The
planned takeover of the Opel division by PSA, which owns the Peugeot and Citroen
brands, was unveiled in the middle of February.
It
sparked fears in Germany and Britain that the prospective new owner could cut
non-French jobs.
PSA
boss Carlos Tavares had said earlier he wanted to develop the “iconic” Vauxhall
brand as “part of Britain’s automobile sector heritage”.
Vauxhall
employs around 5,000 people in Britain. Opel operates some 10 factories in
Europe spread across six countries, and had 35,600 employees at the end of
2015, 18,250 of them in Germany.
Founded
in 1862, Opel, with its lightning-bolt emblem, is a familiar sight on German
and European roads.
–
‘Lucrative for shareholders’ –
But in
recent years the firm has booked repeated losses, costing Detroit-based GM
around $15 billion (14 billion euros) since 2000.
A
sharp fall in the pound since Britain’s vote to quit the EU last June sank
Opel’s hopes of getting back into the black in 2016, and it ended up reporting
a loss of $257 million.
Britain,
where it sells vehicles under the Vauxhall brand, is Opel’s largest European
market.
PSA
has been active in trying to win backing for the acquisition, with chief
executive Tavares last week securing the support of Germany’s Chancellor Angela
Merkel and also holding a phone conversation with British Prime Minister
Theresa May.
France’s
CGT union late Friday said the deal would be “very lucrative for PSA
shareholders” and issued a warning to the PSA and Opel employees.
“Once
German elections (in September) have taken place, it is obvious that Carlos
Tavares will have as first objective to attack employment”, it said.
Tavares
has said the group would respect the commitments made by GM, namely a rejection
of short-term economic redundancies and a promise to invest in sites until
2020.
In
talks last week with the head of Britain’s biggest trade union, Len McCluskey,
he “repeated his commitment to dialogue under existing agreements and the PSA
group’s ethical approach”.
Britain’s
plans to quit the European Union have created uncertainty across the business
world, particularly in the car sector which is dependent on imports and exports
with the European Union.
PSA
last month said net profit for 2016 rose 79 percent to 2.15 billion euros
($2.27 billion) with the auto giant pledging to pay shareholder dividends for
the first time since 2011 to the tune of 0.48 euros per share.
PSA’s
improved profitability comes despite a decline in sales due to the scope of
consolidation and foreign exchange effects.
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