Exor S.p.A. Investment Conglomorate (EXORF)

[Wildbilly]

Exor Spokesman Denies Fiat in Takeover Talks With VW


By Eric Sylvers

MILAN--A spokesman for Exor SpA, the holding company through which the Agnelli family controls Fiat SpA, denied Thursday that the clan is in takeover talks with the controlling family of Volkswagen AG.
A German magazine reported that the Agnellis and the Piech family, which controls Volkswagen, have held talks about a possible merger. Shares in Italy's Fiat SpA surged early Thursday, rising nearly 5% at one point. They were 3% higher in early afternoon trading in Milan. Volkswagen shares were down nearly 3%.
According to a pre-release of an article to appear in the German monthly business magazine Manager Magazin, the two families are in talks about merging the car makers, with VW anxious to bulk up in the U.S. market through Chrysler, which is merging with Fiat. At the same time, the deal would allow the Agnelli family to focus on its luxury Ferrari brand and get out of the mass market. Spokesmen for VW and Fiat declined to comment.
In May, Fiat unveiled an ambitious five-year plan to boost its car sales by 60% by 2018. Under the leadership of CEO Sergio Marchionne, Fiat has engineered a takeover of Chrysler, whose strong performance has helped Fiat balance deep losses in its legacy European business.

Write to Eric Sylvers at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 17, 2014 07:51 ET (11:51 GMT)
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