giangirm":yjlazwoc ha detto:
La "fusione" con GM la vedo ancora come una sinergia, una collaborazione, non una cancellazione di parte dei marchi a favore di altri.
Per me se si fanno 4 macchine semiuguali cui cambi solo l' etichetta e poco più, viene fuori una schifezza. SE fai auto che hanno in comune solo pianale e motori, riesci ad ottenere modelli anche molto diversi, ognuno con la propria personalità e target di clientela. Questa la vedo come collaborazione, non concorrenza interna :ka)
La storia prova il contrario: più prodotti uguali venduti allo stesso cliente inevitabilmente fanno fiasco.
E la differenziazione, per impedire le sovrapposizioni, i doppioni, le puoi fare con due versioni, non con 7 o 8: i doppioni si sprecano.
Resta alla base il grande problema: SE Fiat è un alleato, una branca di GM oppure un ente a sè.
Dalla Reuter
FACTBOX-Fiat's put option to GM - facts and future
Wed Dec 15, 2004 05:09 AM ET
MILAN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Fiat (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) and General Motors (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) are at loggerheads over whether a put option allowing Fiat to force GM to buy out Fiat Auto is still valid.
On Wednesday, a year-long truce that had prevented them from taking legal action against each other expired, and the two sides said they were set to start mediation talks.
Here are some key facts about the deal:
WHAT IS THE PUT?
-- The put is part of a deal signed in 2000 when GM bought 20 percent of Fiat Auto in exchange for 6 percent of GM's shares, worth $2.4 billion. Fiat has since sold the GM shares and GM has written down its Fiat Auto investment to $220 million.
-- The terms of the deal say Fiat can sell its stake in Fiat Auto to GM any time between Jan. 24, 2004, and July 24, 2009. Last year, Fiat and GM shifted the exercise period back by one year.
-- The 2000 Master Agreement also established joint ventures in parts purchasing and powertrain development.
-- In 2000, GM won the Fiat Auto deal, beating rival DaimlerChrysler (DCXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) , which had wanted to buy 100 percent of the Italian carmaker. Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli, who died in 2003, did not want to cede control and so chose the GM deal, with the option of selling out later.
WHAT IS THE ARGUMENT?
-- GM argues that Fiat breached the terms of the Master Agreement by changing the parameters of Fiat Auto when it sold 51 percent of its financing arm Fidis and pumped 3 billion euros into Fiat Auto. GM refused to take part in the recapitalisation, and its stake in Fiat Auto was diluted to 10 percent.
-- Fiat says the recapitalisation was required by law and that a call option to buy back Fidis means that the parameters have not changed.
-- In October 2003, the two groups agreed a one-year truce on taking each other to court over the put's validity. The grace period ended on Wednesday, Dec. 15. Fiat had said it would not extend the moratorium.
-- Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne says the possibility of selling Fiat Auto to GM was the reason Fiat agreed to restrictions on its forging other partnerships. He wants to strike new deals to help Fiat Auto out of crisis.
WHAT DOES MEDIATION ENTAIL?
-- Under the terms of the Master Agreement, any dispute must be presented to the CEOs of GM and Fiat, who must meet within 20 working days in a neutral setting to defuse the problem.
They then have 10 more working days to settle the spat, after which they can take the issue to court.
Siamo a questo punto
-- The Master Agreement is governed by New York State laws. Any action would be heard and judged by the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
-- Fiat said on Wednesday the process was designed to "allow the parties to resolve the dispute before resorting to other means, including litigation".
HOW WOULD THE PUT WORK?
-- First, Fiat would inform GM it is exercising the put. The groups then have 10 days of direct negotiation to agree the fair market value of Fiat Auto.
-- If they can not agree, four investment banks -- two appointed banks and two independent banks -- have 20 days to value the company.
-- If the appointed banks' estimates are within 15 percent of each other, the put price is set by averaging them out.
-- If they are not close enough, the one furthest from the average of the two independent estimates is discarded. The remaining three are averaged out to set the price.
-- At the end of the process, Fiat can decide not to exercise the put at the agreed price. Fiat has two chances to exercise the put.
-- If GM pays for Fiat Auto in shares, it pays the whole sum at closing. If GM pays in cash, it pays 25 percent up front, with the rest covered by a freely transferable promissory note with interest. It can also pay with a mixture of cash and stock.
-- GM has said that if it paid cash, it could pay in four instalments over three years and would finance the deal from normal operating cash flow or financing activities.
-- GM would have to consolidate Fiat Auto's financial statements unless it was liquidated or declared insolvent.
WHAT ARE THE OTHER PROBLEMS?
-- GM has its own internal problems. It is trying to pull its European business -- Opel, Vauxhall and Saab -- back to profit and is planning around 12,000 job cuts. In the United States, it faces soaring health care and pension costs. It can little afford another debt-laden, unprofitable carmaker.
-- Fiat is Italy's largest private employer. The government and unions fear that GM would shut factories and cut thousands of jobs. It would also be a deep psychological blow for Italy to lose the icon of its post-war industrial boom and economic revival.
