MILAN — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it planned to list its robot-making business, giving more detail Monday about the future of Turin-based Comau, which it already planned to spin off.
Comau will be spun off shortly after FCA completes its merger with Peugeot maker PSA and its shares distributed to shareholders of the new group.
The deal to create the world’s fourth-largest automaker is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of next year.
FCA said that it had appointed Paolo Carmassi as Comau’s new CEO to pursue the listing. For the past four years Carmassi ran scientific equipment maker Malvern Panalytical, a unit of Britain’s Spectris, and previously worked for more than 20 years at Honeywell, it said.
It also appointed Alessandro Nasi, a board member of Exor, the holding company of Italy’s Agnelli family which controls FCA, as Comau’s new chairman.
Exor is set to become the largest single shareholder of the combined group after FCA’s merger with PSA, and Comau’s top shareholder after its listing.
“The appointments … are a significant step forward for Comau as it prepares for life as a public company,” FCA CEO Mike Manley said in a statement.
