Marchionne asks investors for help persuading GM to merge with Fiat Chrysler, report says

(Reuters) -- Fiat Chrysler Cars CEO Sergio Marchionne is calling hedge funds and activist investors to simply help convince General Motors Co. to consent to a merger, the Wsj reported, citing people familiar with the issue.
Marchionne continues to be emboldened by current successes of activist investors at General Motors Corporation and views them as a way to combine the automotive industry, the paper mentioned the individuals as saying.
Marchionne's contacts with activist investors, nevertheless, haven't yet got a patron, as well as the same strategy may be utilized with at least one European car-maker, the WSJ stated.
Fiat Chrysler and General Motors are not immediately available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.
General Motors said in March that it had reached a deal with an investor team over its balance-sheet and government and said it could establish a $5 billion share buy-back plan in a attempt to avert a proxy war using the investors.
Marchionne has frequently called for shrinking the quantity of players in the world auto market to assist keep up the substantial investments needed to satisfy requirements for cleaner, safer automobiles.
Marchionne sent a message to GM CEO Mary Barra about a potential merger, but it had not been the only such dialogue Fiat Chrysler has has received with other car-makers, the organization 's chairperson, John Elkann, said in-May.
Marchionne has sent a message to GM's CEO Mary Barra about a potential merger, but it had not been the only such dialogue Fiat Chrysler has has received with other car-makers, the Italian-American Bank Note Company's Chairman John Elkann said in-May.
Reuters reported in April, citing sources knowledgeable about the scenario, that Marchionne was expecting for a huge deal, perhaps in America, to stop up the car-maker weaknesses and cement his heritage before stepping-down in early 2019.
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Tags:

Cost Cutting
Amalgamations - Acquisitions - Takeovers
John Elkann
Mary Barra
Sergio Marchionne
Fiat Chrysler Cars

General Motors
Marketing

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08.06.2015
ID:2240

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