The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Fiat Chrysler was in merger talks with France’s Groupe PSA, which owns Peugeot, Citröen, DS, and other car brands somehow including Opel. Now the news site reports that, per its sources, the two automakers have come to a merger agreement.
We don’t know much yet, all we know is what’s in the Wall Street Journal’s updated headline, which now reads: “Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot Owner PSA Agree to Merge.” The first line of that story states:
*Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot PUGOY +2.94% Owner PSA Agree to Merge — Sources
The story has been updated with more information, reading:
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FCAU +6.82% NV and Peugeot PUGOY +2.63% maker PSA Group of France have agreed on the terms of a merger that, if approved by both boards, would create the world’s fourth-largest auto maker by volume with a market value of more than $48.4 billion, according to people familiar with the situation.
Peugeot’s board approved the deal on Wednesday. Fiat Chrysler’s board meeting was still in progress while the board of Exor, the Agnelli family holding company that controls the Italian-American car maker, was scheduled to meet later on Wednesday night.
The article goes on to say that Peugeot’s CEO Carlos Tavares would become CEO of the newly-formed, merged company, and FCA chairman John Elkann would become chairman.
FCA and PSA had officially announced they were in talks together this morning, but nothing new is out since this WSJ update. We’ll update this story as we hear more.
Fiat Chrysler responded to Jalopnik’s inquiry by saying “We’re not commenting,” and directed us to its statement from this morning, which reads:
Following recent reports on a possible business combination between Groupe PSA and FCA Group, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (“FCA”, NYSE: FCAU /MTA: FCA), confirms there are ongoing discussions aimed at creating one of the world‘s leading mobility Groups. FCA has nothing further to add at this time.
Groupe PSA responded to Jalopnik’s inquiry saying something similar. “I confirm we have started discussion as per our press release this morning. Beyond this I will not comment,” the email reads from a company representative. That press release, if you’re curious, reads:
Following recent reports on a possible business combination between Groupe PSA and FCA Group, Groupe PSA confirms there are ongoing discussions aiming at creating one of the world‘s leading automotive Groups.
This story is being updated.