Fiat bientot vendu a GM?

[Bern]

De plus en plus de rumeurs, pour l'instant demanties, mais comme on dit, il n'y a pas de fumee sans feu...

Apres les declaration d'Agnelli disant que c'etait possible, meme avant 2004, une autre info:

GM etudierai actuellement la possibilite de racheter Fiat. Et apparemment, c'est pas tout beau ce qu'ils decouvrent chez Fiat.


GM LAUNCHES PROJECT TEAM TO STUDY FIAT TAKEOVER
General Motors may not as yet have begun talks with its fast-fading Italian ally, but it has put in motion a top-secret project team aggressively studying the pros-and-cons of a Fiat takeover. The team has already determined that there could be at least two serious obstacles to a takeover, a well-placed source within GM Europe told a reporter for TheCarConnection. One is that the U.S. automaker’s resources are already stretched to the limit as GM struggles to pull together its recent takeover of the troubled Korean company, Daewoo. But there are other, more serious issues emerging as the project team starts to bore down inside Fiat. For one thing, the Italian company has established a series of long-term, “unbreakable” contracts, TCC was told, with suppliers such as Magneti-Marelli. These deals saddle Fiat with costs that limit its competitiveness and would remain a burden, even if the company were acquired by General Motors. GM CEO Rick Wagoner told the Wall Street Journal this week that no takeover talks are currently underway, but whether the automaker moves ahead could depend on the final report from the project team.

[Bern]

La, ca commence vraiment a faire beaucoup de fumee....

GM prepares to save Fiat
Italian automaker's decline speeds integration plan

By Dorothee Ostle and Dave Guilford
Automotive News / June 03, 2002

General Motors is developing a detailed plan to integrate Fiat Auto, the Italian carmaker that is spiraling downward in sales and financial performance, into GM's European operations much sooner than originally anticipated.

GM CFO John Devine is spending much of his time in New York, working out a strategy with bankers for getting Fiat as quickly and cheaply as possible.

GM executives believe they may need to accelerate the purchase of the 80 percent of Fiat Auto that GM doesn't already own. GM wants to stop Fiat's dismal fall before the company becomes worthless. The longer term upside: The GM-Fiat combine would be the largest automaker in Europe.

A team of GM executives in America and Europe is working on blending Fiat Auto with GM's Adam Opel AG, according to GM sources. The team is preparing for joint product development, coordination of the various brands and models, and acceleration of synergies in purchasing, powertrain and back offices.

Fiat and GM's Opel/Vauxhall now compete directly in every significant European market segment. The brand strategy, which will aim to reduce cannibalization, is complicated by GM's need to position its newly acquired Daewoo brand in Europe.

Umberto Agnelli, younger brother of Fiat patriarch Giovanni Agnelli, is understood to be ready to sell the car division that Giovanni had vowed to keep. Giovanni, 81, is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer in New York.

GM is trying to make the best of a potentially disastrous situation. After acquiring 20 percent of Fiat Auto two years ago for $2.4 billion, GM is committed to buying the remainder as early as 2004 if Fiat S.p.A. chooses to sell it.

Meanwhile, Opel is struggling and GM must also integrate Daewoo. Adding Fiat Auto to the mix would be another challenge for top management.

Fiat S.p.A. could force GM to buy the rest of Fiat Auto by exercising a put option that takes effect in January 2004, with the price set by investment bankers. But GM sources say they want to do the deal now, before Fiat Auto collapses. Fiat Auto has lost $438 million through April this year as sales have dived.

The total market capitalization of Fiat S.p.A. had dropped to just $7.6 billion last week. Fiat Auto had sales of $22.8 billion in 2001, representing 42 percent of Fiat S.p.A. sales of $54.2 billion.

Sooner is better

GM's attitude is "the sooner the better," said a GM executive who asked not to be named.

"We wanted to take over Fiat as a whole two years ago, but Giovanni Agnelli refused this plan," he said. "We want the whole thing."

GM has hired U.S. investment banks to advise on the takeover. Two scenarios are being discussed internally:

n Taking over Fiat Auto, but not its debt, paying a fair market price for the shares.

n Getting the shares free and assuming all liabilities.

Sources say GM favors the first route, resembling its recent acquisition of assets of Daewoo Motor.

The planning for integration is not "theoretical games," said a GM source. The company has "a very detailed integration plan that involves all business areas. We are prepared for Day One. We can start immediately with full integration of Fiat into GM Europe.

"We want to make sure that we don't lose years and money, as happened to Daimler when it took over Chrysler."

Not an easy job

Still, the integration will not be easy.

"There would be humongous problems," said a Fiat executive who asked not to be named. "There would be tremendous cultural problems in terms of platform sharing. GM would need visionary leadership."

The Fiat insider says GM would find value only in the Alfa Romeo brand and the Fiat Punto supermini, which he says is the only profitable Fiat-badged model.

Umberto Agnelli signaled his willingness to sell early last week while speaking to shareholders during the annual meeting of IFI, the Agnelli family's holding company. "It is our duty to permit (Fiat Auto management) to work in optimal conditions, even if this doesn't happen with Fiat Auto as part of the Fiat Group," he said. Umberto Agnelli is chairman of IFI and IFIL, the two family-controlled financial companies that own 30 percent of Fiat Group shares.

It was the first time an Agnelli family member has said publicly that Fiat Auto could be sold.

In hopes of holding full-year losses to no more than the $513 million it lost last year, Fiat Auto CEO Giancarlo Boschetti is slashing spending on new products, marketing and manufacturing. GM Europe lost $767 million in 2001.

Big savings expected

GM executives say the integration could accelerate cost savings for both companies.

"There are maybe five nuts and bolts you can save when developing a new electric window at Opel and about the same at Fiat," the source said. "But if you save the whole cost of developing that device at one company and add the combined purchasing power, then one plus one equals much more than two."

GM executives say they have already worked out detailed plans. For example, Fiat would take the lead on diesels and Opel on gasoline engines.

Fiat would lead small-car development. Opel would head development of compact and mid-sized cars. Saab would lead in premium segment cars, which would likely feature rear- and all-wheel drive only.

GM has already been making decisions based on the expected takeover.

"We would have never agreed to share the Corsa component matrix with the Punto if we weren't sure that all of Fiat will be part of the family soon," the GM source said. "And we are planning to integrate the next generation Stilo into the GM Europe component matrix."

Plans already exist for both the differentiation of brands and coverage of all market niches, he said.

"We will quickly ensure that overlaps in the product portfolios of the brands are avoided in order to eliminate cannibalization," the manager said. "And there will be niche models in all market segments, though not by each brand in each segment."

GM expects dramatic savings in product development, purchasing costs, logistics, distribution and synergies in the back office.

Fiat's overcapacity problem is the only problem GM officials say they cannot address before taking control of the company. But executives in Detroit are discussing possible solutions.

"We know that we can only grow with a refined multibrand strategy," the manager said. "GM wants to grow, especially in Europe, and Fiat with its strong customer base especially in the southern European markets, fits perfectly into our strategy."

[Tifosi]

on a pas les mêmes sources..
visiblement, les banques Italiennes vont venir au secours de Fiat

[Breton]

<!--quoteo-->CITATION<!--quotec-->on a pas les mêmes sources..
visiblement, les banques Italiennes vont venir au secours de Fiat  <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

+ Berlusconi, les italiens ont l'air de vouloir sauver Fiat auto Les américains avec leur délicatesse habituelle se prennent déjà pour les sauveurs des bouseux italiens

[ZeGato]

<!--quoteo-->CITATION<!--quotec--><!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>CITATION<!--quotec-->on a pas les mêmes sources..
visiblement, les banques Italiennes vont venir au secours de Fiat  <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

+ Berlusconi, les italiens ont l'air de vouloir sauver Fiat auto Les américains avec leur délicatesse habituelle se prennent déjà pour les sauveurs des bouseux italiens
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
On a pas du leur dire que l'Italie c'était en Europe

[Bern]

Bon encore des nouvelles, la ca fait vraiment beaucoup...

GM hires investment banks to study Fiat-report

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DETROIT, June 3 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. <GM.N> has hired U.S. investment banks to advise it on the possibility of taking over the remaining 80 percent of Fiat SpA's <FIA.MI> auto unit that it does not own, Automotive News reported on Monday.

The weekly industry publication, citing an unnamed GM executive, said the company is considering paying a fair market price for the shares of Italian automaker Fiat Auto, but not taking on its debt. Alternatively, GM is considering assuming all of its liabilities and getting the shares for free.

GM declined to comment on the report, which did not name the investment banks that it said were acting as advisers. GM officials stood by their earlier comments that GM has not had any conversations with Fiat about accelerating a "put" option that gives Fiat the right to sell the remaining 80 percent of Fiat Auto to GM at a fair market value between January 2004 and July 2009.

Some Wall Street analysts remain skeptical that GM may act before 2004 to buy money-losing Fiat Auto, which has suffered from falling market share in Europe.

"At the moment, I don't think that's a high probability," Deutsche Banc analyst Rod Lache told Reuters. "I think GM realizes that it's not a particularly compelling acquisition for them right now."

Lache said that such a deal could hurt GM's stock price, and the Detroit automaker could buy Fiat's assets at a cheaper price if it waited.

The GM source told Automotive News that the automaker has "a very detailed integration plan that involves all business areas. We are prepared for day one. We can start immediately with full integration of Fiat into GM Europe."

GM agreed in March 2000 to buy a 20 percent stake in Fiat Auto for $2.4 billion in GM common stock. The deal excludes Fiat's Ferrari and Maserati high-end sports car brands.

[@ndré]

L'administrateur Paolo CANTERELLA a démissionné aujourd'hui au grand désarroi d'AGNELLI... Quitterait-on le navire?...