Dongfeng Considering PSA Investment But Far From Decision

The rumor emerged last week that PSA PeugeotPeugeotFrance, 1882 > present120 models
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was considering selling a significant portion of the company to its Chinese joint venture partner Dongfeng. Dongfeng is now responding to the rumor by saying that it is still making its decision. PSA says that the money will be used to expand the company outside of Europe.

"We indeed received information from investment banks regarding PSA and we are doing preliminary research on it. We have not come up with any conclusion yet – far from reaching that point," said Song Hefeng, a member of Dongfeng’s legal and securities affairs department.

The stock sale would come from the Peugeot family’s 25.5% ownership in PSA. They would lose control of the board of directors but could save the company that bears its name.

PSA and Dongfeng have three joint venture factories in Wuhan, China. PSA also has a joint venture with Changan and will open a factory in Shenzhen, China, before the end of the year to build DS models.

Peugeot sales in Europe fell by 18% in August, and it had an operating loss of €65 million in the first half of the year.

Source: Automotive News Europe