General Motors (GM) announced Monday it will be selling its European division to French carmaker PSA Group (PEUGEOT-S-A) for $2.33 billion (€ 2.2 billion), reports the BBC.
The deal, first reported Friday, will see GM’s European brands Opel and Vauxhall join Peugeot and Citroen under the ownership of the Paris-based PSA, making it Europe’s second-largest automaker by market share.
According to a statement from PSA, the acquisition covers both Opel and Vauxhall, valued at $1.38 billion (€1.3 billion), as well as GM Financial’s European operations, valued at $950 million (€900 million).
“We believe this new chapter puts Opel and Vauxhall in an even stronger position for the long term,” Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of General Motors, said in the statement.
News of the acquisition has sparked worries of job losses at Vauxhall’s British plants, reports the BBC, which employ 4,500 workers.
Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, the U.K.’s largest trade union, told the BBC that the union’s priority would be to “ensure a long-term future for our plants,” adding that early talks with PSA were “relatively positive.”
