Linklaters is advising Peugeot Citroën (PSA) on a broad-scale global strategic alliance with General Motors (GM), which consists in the creation of a purchasing joint venture, joint development of several vehicles through shared automotive platforms and the acquisition of a minority stake by GM in PSA.

The total capital increase is expected to raise approx. €1 billion. PSA and GM respectively had a turnover of approx. €60 and €108 billion in 2011. The total synergies expected from the alliance are estimated at approx. €1.4 billion ($2 billion USD) annually within about five years. The implementation of the alliance requires clearances from some competition authorities, particularly in certain European countries and in Asia.

Linklaters’ international team for this operation is led by Anne Wachsmann and Olivier d’Ormesson, EU Competition/Antitrust partners in Paris, who are assisted by associates Clara Robert-Heidmann and Emily Xueref-Poviac. Linklaters’ offices in Düsseldorf, New York and Warsaw also collaborate on this deal with partners Daniela Seeliger (Germany), Thomas A. McGrath (USA), and Malgorzata Szwaj (Poland).

The Linklaters Competition team in Paris has been advising PSA for many years and regularly intervenes in major transactions. The team recently advised clients on the Transdev/Veolia Phase II transactions and on the combination of GDF Suez’s international energy division with International Power.