PARIS/MILAN -- Shareholders of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group on Monday approved a $52 billion plan to merge and create Stellantis.
FCA Chairman John Elkann said at a virtual meeting that 99.15 percent of FCA's shareholders had voted in favor of the merger. That includes top investor EXOR, the holding company of Italy's Agnelli family, which controls 44.4 percent of FCA's voting rights because of a loyalty share scheme.
Elkann, who will be chairman of Stellantis, said the approval was an "historic" moment for the company.
PSA Group shareholders approved the deal earlier Monday.
At PSA's special shareholder meeting, the deal to form the new combined company was backed by more than 99 percent of the votes cast by investors with double voting rights, including the Peugeot family and China's Dongfeng Motor. All other PSA shareholders backed the deal at a second meeting held online with a 99.85 percent approval rate among votes cast.
"We are ready for this merger," PSA CEO Carlos Tavares told the online meeting.
Tavares said the final date for the closing would be announced after all shareholder approvals are granted. He said the deal had now passed all regulatory tests.
The shareholding structure will be altered as part of the merger, and existing double voting rights, which are accrued over time and give investors more weight in decisions, will not be carried over.
Tavares, who will be CEO of the merged group, will have to revive the fortunes in China of FCA and PSA, rationalize a sprawling global empire and address massive overcapacity, as well as focus on creating cleaner cars.
Stellantis will have 14 brands, from FCA's Fiat, Maserati and U.S.-focused Jeep, Dodge and Ram to PSA's Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and DS. PSA has traditionally been more focused on Europe.
