|
 Gallois won the board's endorsement to replace Chairman Thierry
Peugeot after the founding Peugeot family agreed to support the
French government's choice of candidate, the sources said. A Peugeot
spokesman declined to comment.
The French government welcomed the decision. Prime Minister
Jean-Marc Ayrault's office said in a statement Gallois' experience
and talent would be "an asset for PSA, which will need exemplary
governance over the next few years".
Paris-based Peugeot last month announced a rescue deal in which it
will sell shares to Dongfeng and the French government, reducing the
family's stake to match their equal holdings of about 14 percent.
The family will see its board presence halved to two full members,
Thierry and cousin Robert Peugeot, the sources said. Thierry's
sister Marie-Helene will leave the board while another Peugeot
cousin, Jean-Philippe, remains as a non-voting member.
Former Renault <RENA.PA> executive Carlos Tavares is taking over as
chief executive from Philippe Varin later this month, with Peugeot
also getting a new chairman under the deal's terms.
Gallois, France's investment commissioner who previously headed the
SNCF state railway and defense group EADS <EAD.PA>, prevailed over
former Nexans <NEXS.PA> boss Gerard Hauser, the Peugeot clan's
initial choice, the sources said.
[to top of second column] |
As Le Figaro first reported last week, however, the family agreed to
back Gallois over Hauser, a former board member at
Peugeot-controlled Faurecia <EPED.PA>, after meetings with
government officials.
Gallois has served on the Peugeot board since late 2012, when his
appointment as a nominal independent was imposed on the company by
President Francois Hollande's Socialist government in return for 7
billion euros in state loan guarantees.
His nomination will be submitted for formal approval by the new
board on April 29 and by the Peugeot shareholder meeting, which may
be brought forward to April 25 from April 30, the sources said.
The agreement underpinning Peugeot's capital increase and tie-up
with Dongfeng is due to be finalized during a visit to Paris by
Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.
($1=0.7180 euros)
(Additional reporting by Julien Ponthus;
editing by Greg Mahlich and
David Holmes)
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