PSA Shareholders Approve Opel Purchase

As expected, PSA Group shareholders overwhelmingly approved a finance plan to buy Adam Opel AG from General Motors Co. for €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion).

The deal, which announced in March, is expected to be finalized before the end of 2017. Combining the two companies will make PSA second in size among European carmakers only to Volkswagen Group.

CEO Carlos Tavares tells shareholders that Opel is likely to post another loss this year. The unit, which hasn’t made a full-year profit since 1999, trimmed its loss before interest and taxes last year to about $300 million from $800 million in 2015.