EU antitrust regulators have suspended their investigation into Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA’s proposed merger while waiting for the automakers to provide requested data.
“This procedure in merger investigations is activated if the parties fail to provide, in a timely fashion, an important piece of information that the Commission has requested from them,” the European Commission stated on Wednesday.
“Once the missing information is supplied by the parties, the clock is re-started and the deadline for the Commission’s decision is then adjusted accordingly,” the EU competition enforcer stated.
PSA and FCA said their reply to the EU’s request for documentation was already in progress but had been made more complicated to meet because of the factors including the COVID-19 emergency.
It “will be transmitted shortly”, the two automakers said in joint statement.
The earlier deadline for the EU’s decision was November 13.
FCA and PSA aim to finalize their merger in the first quarter of 2021. It is set to form the world’s fourth-largest automaker, to be named “Stellantis”.
The Commission is probing if the deal to create the world’s fourth-biggest automaker would hurt competition in small vans in 14 EU nations and the UK.
