On August 1st, the shareholders of Fiat S.p.A. approved the cross-border merger of Fiat with and into Fiat Investments N.V. a wholly-owned subsidiary incorporated in the Netherlands.
Assuming all other conditions precedent in the Merger Plan are satisfied, Fiat will be merged into Fiat Investments which, upon completion of the transaction, will be renamed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and become the holding company of the Group. Only about 8% of shareholders’ equity voted against the cross-border merger.
Fiat shares fell by 1.86% on Friday to 7.11 euros on the news of the merger.
During the EGM, Fiat also announced that the FCA Board of Directors, upon completion of the Merger, would be composed of the following individuals: John Elkann, Sergio Marchionne, Andrea Agnelli, Tiberto Brandolini d’Adda, Glenn Earle, Valerie A. Mars, Ruth J. Simmons, Ronald L. Thompson, Patience Wheatcroft, Stephen M. Wolf and Ermenegildo Zegna.
At the press conference after the shareholders’ approval of the merger, Sergio Marchionne, referring to Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi’s suggestion to offer a tax break for buyers as a implement to stimulate economic activity, commented: “I hope the government decides against incentives for the auto industry… I do not want incentives to warp the market… We do not want (government) intervention in the market. Let the market go where it wants.”
The Chief Executive Officer also professed: “In all the choices we have made and what we do, we try always to find the right balance between the logic of profit and social responsibility,” confirming that Fiat’s administrative offices and jobs will stay in Italy.
He similarly declared: “We are rooted in the territories in which we operate,” adding that he anticipated a joint production of up to six million vehicles per year by 2018 (last year, Fiat and Chrysler produced a collective 4.4 million automobiles.
