The boss of car-maker Fiat Chrysler has reached out to activist investors and hedge funds in a bid to force through a merger with rival General Motors.
Sergio Marchionne is understood to have been encouraged by the recent success of rebel shareholders at GM, who have forced the company to launch a $5 billion (£3.2 billion) share buyback and increase its dividend.
According to reports in the US, he now wants them to put pressure on the group to merge with Fiat Chrysler — a move he believes will safeguard his company’s future.
In January, he said: “The cost of execution on the capital side is well in excess of what I consider what a mature industry should be able to afford.
“I am convinced of the fact that this industry needs to move quickly towards the path of consolidation.”
GM has so far dismissed suggestions of a potential merger: “We have our strategy and we are working on it. This is not worthy of a comment,” a spokesman said earlier this year.
