Fiat minaccia azioni legali per dimostrare validità put

[Gigi]

Dal Financial Times:

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/96f7fa04-47c3-11d9-a0fd-00000e2511c8.html

Fiat threatens GM with action

By James Mackintosh in London and Adrian Michaels in Milan

Published: December 6 2004 22:04 | Last updated: December 7 2004 12:03

GM and Fiat

Fiat will next week threaten General Motors with legal action as the Italian industrial group asserts its right to compel the US manufacturer to buy its troubled car division.

The Italian company will move to clear up the conflict with GM over whether its four-year-old “put” option, giving Fiat the right to sell its car arm, is valid.

People close to Fiat, which would not comment on Monday, said legal action would not necessarily mean the sale of Fiat Auto, but the establishment of the right to do so.

GM has claimed repeatedly that the option can no longer be exercised.

It is important to Fiat to have the put option available in case the problems at Fiat Auto which lost €744m at the operating level in the first nine months escalate further.

The company has been keeping the option in reserve to allow it to dump the car division on GM if turnround efforts fail. But Fiat wants to be sure the option is valid because its terms are preventing the company striking deals with other manufacturers.

Any sale to GM is expected to create controversy in Italy as well as face fierce resistance by GM, which is struggling to repair its existing European operations.

GM yesterday reiterated its position that the “put” can be contested because of restructuring at Fiat Auto and a capital injection.

Sergio Marchionne, Fiat chief executive, plans to tell Rick Wagoner, chairman and chief executive of GM, that the company will not accept another delay after the standstill agreement expires on Wednesday.

The two will meet in Zurich on Tuesday on the sidelines of the quarterly steering committee of their engines joint venture. “There will not be an extension to the standstill agreement,” said one person close to Fiat.

GM succeeded in delaying the option by 12 months to January 24, and both sides promised not to take any legal action until the middle of next week.

Mr Marchionne and Luca di Montezemolo, Fiat chairman, have been much less committed to Fiat Auto in public than previous management.

Before their arrival this summer the Agnelli family, which controls Fiat, had insisted that the company did not want to surrender the business started by Giovanni Agnelli in 1899. The family will meet on Monday but are not expected to make a decision on selling Fiat Auto.

The amount GM would have to pay if the “put” were exercised is determined at the time. But Fiat watchers believe it would not pay anything as the division has close to €4bn of debt and is worth only €2bn-€2.5bn.

GM owns 10 per cent of Fiat Auto, although it has written off almost all its $2.4bn (€1.8bn) investment in the company.

[Autodelta85]

siamo alla resa dei conti?

[Turicum]

business as usual. e' ovvio che la fiat non puo' stare a guardare gm che fa carta straccia di un contratto. altrettanto scontato che fiat non andra' a gm. si metteranno d'accordo qua a zurigo

[Meg85...]

domanda...ma come funziona sto "put"...cioè so che è una opzione di gm su fiat auto, ma non ricordo quali erano i termini...percaso gm se non acquisisce la fiat deve sborsare qualcosa???

[Abarth03]

Mi sembra più corretto parlarne sotto mercato, finanza e società. :wink:

[stev66]

L'accordo era che GM era obbligata a comprare Fiat Auto entro il 2005, se l'azionista di Fiat avesse voluto cedere l'azienda.

In realta' cercheranno di ottenere una transazione per l'annullamento dell'obbligo.

[Guglielmo]

in arrivo i soldi per rilevare Mitsubischi.

[Meg85...]

ehhh???? ma la mitshubisci non è della daimler-crysler??? che c'entra...?

la fiat potrebbe rilevarla ed andare ad incasinarsi ancora di più???

non mi sembra molto sensato...

[Guglielmo]

ehhh???? ma la mitshubisci non è della daimler-crysler??? che c'entra...?

la fiat potrebbe rilevarla ed andare ad incasinarsi ancora di più???

non mi sembra molto sensato...

si ma daimler non ha partecipato all'aumento del capitale ,Fiat rileverebbe proprio quello ..a prezzo speciale ,in cambio di un bel mondiale per motoya magari ... :wink: ...sai che goduria vendere la 199 con il marchio Mitsui in tutto il sud est asiatico

giappone compreso. : :

[Meg85...]

ho capito, però la mitsubishi è messa malaccio come conti...cioè, se non sbaglio fiat auto è ancora in crisi nera, e i soldi per rilevare l'aumento di capitale dove li trova(seriamente parlando...)???

certo una partnership con la mitsu per quel che riguarda le trazioni integrali in cambio della commercializzazione di 1999 in asia con il loro marchio non mi spiacerebbe, ma solo se la fiat avesse una percentuale su ogni mitsu 1999 venduta in asia...