Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and merger partner Groupe PSA on Tuesday named the 11 members to their combined board as Stellantis, and FCA CEO Mike Manley was not among them.
Despite the merger’s 50-50 stock split, Paris-based PSA is naming six of the board members compared to FCA’s five. All are subject to shareholder approval. Only two current executives, who were previously announced as a part of the binding agreement signed in December, will be on the board: FCA chairman John Elkann, who will continue in his role at Stellantis, and PSA CEO Carlos Tavares, who will lead the tie-up.
Manley has said he will continue with Stellantis following the merger and in a senior executive role that has not been specified. He was appointed as CEO to replace Sergio Marchionne days before his death in July 2018. Prior to that, he was the head of Jeep and Ram brands, and chief operating officer for the Asia Pacific region.
PSA named Robert Peugeot as vice chairman of Stellantis. He is head of the French automaker’s namesake Peugeot family of companies and a member of PSA’s supervisory board.
The only two current members of FCA’s board that have been appointed to the combined company are Elkann, head of FCA parent company Exor; and Andrea Agnelli, Elkann’s cousin and a member of the family that controls FCA. Agnelli also is president of the Italian soccer club Juventus.
PSA also named Henri de Castries, former CEO of insurer Axa S.A. and a board member for several companies including Nestlé S.A., as the senior independent director.
The remaining six independent directors, three of whom are women, are:
- Fiona Clare Cicconi, chief human resources officer at AstraZeneca PLC, who will be a board representative for FCA employees
- Nicolas Dufourcq, CEO of French government-controlled investment bank Bpifrance S.A.
- Ann Frances Godbehere, director at Royal Dutch Shell PLC and a former financial executive
- Wan Ling Martello, partner and co-founder at private equity firm BayPine
- Jacques de Saint-Exupéry, head of the workers’ council at PSA who will represent the automaker’s employees on the board
- Kevin Scott, chief technology officer at Microsoft Corp.
The deal that would create the fourth-largest automaker in the world by volume is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.
bnoble@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @BreanaCNoble