Fiat owner sells its SGS stake to Groupe Bruxelles for €2 billion

MILAN: Exor SpA, the Agnelli family holding company which controls Fiat SpA, sold its stake in SGS SA to Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA for €2 billion ($2.6 billion), for a capital gain of €1.53 billion.


Exor will use the proceeds from the sale of its entire 15% holding in the Swiss product-inspection provider to pursue “new investment opportunities,” the company said in a statement sent through the Italian exchange. “We have been privileged to have been able to support SGS throughout these past 13 years,” Exor Chairman John Elkann said in the statement.

“We are confident the company will continue to develop.” Elkann said last week that Exor will support the planned combination of Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC, adding that it’s too early to say whether the holding company will invest further in the carmaker to maintain its controlling stake after the planned merger.

Fiat is in talks for as much as $10 billion in financing from a pool of banks to buy the Chrysler stake it doesn’t own and refinance the two automakers’ debt, people familiar with the matter said last week.