in teoria dovrebbe valere almeno un +15% - gz
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By: GZ on Domenica 13 Febbraio 2005 23:09
Un iniezione di 1.55 miliardi di euro per una societa' che fino a venerdi' sera capitalizzava 4.7 miliardi
I commenti sulla Dow Jones sono che riceve circa 1 miliardo di euro in piu' di quello che si aspettava il mercato... niente e' certo in borsa, ma in teoria questgo accordo dovrebbe valere almeno un +15% per il titolo domattina, forse 20%
Inoltre rimane la collaborazione con GM negli acquisti che sono abbastanza importanti.
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Fiat Nets EUR1.55B In Alimony From GM
By Christopher Emsden Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TURIN, Italy (Dow Jones)--Fiat SpA (FIA) executives delighted Sunday in the EUR1.55 billion cash payment they secured from General Motors Corp. (GM) and said Italy's troubled carmaker could now face the future on its own.
Fiat agreed to cancel a put option to sell its auto unit, which has run up around EUR1.8 billion in operating losses in the past two years, in exchange for the cash.
"This should be good for anyone who bought Fiat stock on Friday," said a Milan-based trader, adding he expected the shares to jump significantly on Monday.
Fiat shares closed up one cent at EUR5.93 on Friday and "will probably head towards EUR6.50," the trader said.
"It's not like the company is out of the woods but this deal is worth almostEUR1 billion more than what the market was discounting."
"We have the absolute freedom to choose our future," while retaining a swathe of benefits that the five-year-old alliance offered, said Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne.
Fiat and GM achieved a "consensual separation" and, while they are dissolving their joint ventures in procurement and power trains, have agreed to amicable ongoing business terms in those areas, Fiat Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said.
Resolving the soap opera of the put will be good for Fiat Auto's customers, especially outside Italy, Montezemolo added, indicating that a stream of headlines surrounding the company's difficult finances was denting sales.
Fiat's financial situation is "under control" thanks to GM's money, the chairman said.
The EUR1.55 billion ought to reduce Fiat's net debt to close to EUR3 billion, considered a sustainability threshold for the group.
However, General Motors Chief Financial Officer John Devine said some of that sum goes for assets, and only two-thirds is technically the price for annulling the put.
As part of the broader deal, Fiat is selling GM a 50% interest in its Polish plant manufacturing diesel engines. In that light, only EUR1 billion is technically a fresh boost for Fiat.
Seeking to explain the divorce, Marchionne said that the type of alliance GM and Fiat signed in 2000, including an equity swap and the put option, was "too comprehensive" to work because "they function as if the business had been sold."
Fiat will in the future seek targeted alliances, based on specific products and seeking to exploit the differences between its three car brands, he added.
Asked if that might one day entail third parties taking an equity stake in Fiat Auto, Marchionne told Dow Jones Newswires that nothing could be excluded.
But, he added, there are many ways to structure alliances, noting that Fiat's more than decade-old joint venture in passenger vans with Peugeot involved an equity component although not at the level of Fiat Auto.
Some investors had hoped that Fiat might find a way to deconsolidate Fiat Auto, which apart from burning through cash has EUR8 billion in debt. That would require new investors in Fiat Auto, but instead GM is returning its 10% stake in the unit.
Marchionne also said he didn't immediately see any reason why the dissolution of the joint ventures with GM should change Fiat's targets in 2005.
Last month,the told investors that he expected a consolidated net loss before exceptionals - the cash from GM is a one-time item - and group net profit of more than EUR500 million in 2006.
The EUR1.55 billion will allay fears that a liquidity crunch might tempt management to reduce investment in new product development. According to documents Fiat showed creditors last month, which don't include GM settlement money, Fiat's liquidity might last only 13 months.
Ongoing cost savings from participation in GM's global purchasing alliance - a surprise treat for Fiat - mean the company can continue to count on one hard-nosed benefit of the alliance. Likewise, long term supply contracts to sell GM Fiat's diesel engines, an area in which the Italian company excels, will also provide a steady cash stream, industry observers say.