Fiat sells Magneti Marelli to Calsonic Kansei

The sale is the first big decision for newly minted FCA Chief Executive Mike Manley, who took over in July 2018 when long-time boss and rainmaker Sergio Marchionne fell ill and later died after succumbing to complications from surgery. The sale will enable Manley to focus more on the challenges facing Fiat Chrysler, including the need to win a larger share of the Chinese market, the world's biggest, and catching up with rivals in the development of electric and self-driving vehicles.

Magneti Marelli has been around since 1919, and is headquartered in Milan. It has been a symbol of made in Italy and a piece of Italian industrial history. Calsonic Kansei started out 80 years ago making car radiators for Nissan, which was its largest shareholder until the buyout by the private equity fund KKR in 2016.

The sale of Magneti Marelli to a Japanese group represents, however, the umpteenth transfer of Italian industry into foreign hands, after - just to name a few - the acquisition of Pirelli by the Chinese ChemChina or Italcementi by the German HeidelbergCement.

Advisors of the transaction for KkR-Calsonic were Ubs and Morgan Stanley together with Dentons on the legal side of the deal, while FCA was assisted by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, and by the law firms Legance and Sullivan and Cromwell.

Roberta Veronese