It seems their first attempt at a tryst did not go well.
Last week we carried a story about how Groupe PSA, the French automaker that’s risen to enormous volumes thanks in part to its recent acquisition of German-English firms Opel & Vauxhall, could be on the hunt for another automotive firm to add to its portfolio. It seems that with the backing of the majority-holding Peugeot family, PSA boss Carlos Tavares was actively scouting another acquisition, with the crosshairs seemingly trained on Italian-American outfit Fiat-Chrysler.
With that report making its rounds, sources have come out to tell The Wall Street Journal that PSA and FCA had already had a first date of sorts, with the chemistry between them so incompatible that after the latter rejecting the formers’ advances, they’re not keen to explore the idea of a second meeting.
It’s said that FCA took two primary issues with what PSA had on the table: First was the French automaker’s reliance on European sales to keep their numbers healthy (a market that has traditionally been unkind to FCA’s products), and second was the way PSA was proposing to take FCA on. Like Groupe PSA, Fiat-Chrysler is also majority-owned by a family, the Agnellis. And what PSA was offering was to give the Agnellis majority shares in the company that would result from the merger, as a cash offer was not possible given that PSA’s still pretty strapped from the Opel/Vauxhall purchase.
We find it pretty surprising that FCA rejected a solid takeover offer, given that the company has gained something of a reputation as being perennially for-sale. FCA’s been courting suitors since Sergio Marchionne created the conglomerate, and while the new CEO Mike Manly states the company is “very open” to “any deal that would make Fiat stronger,” it seems that PSA’s “discussions with people looking for deals” just didn’t hit its mark.
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