The very rich Peugeot family is having some big problems with their investors because their company, Peugeot Invest, lost a lot of money from a business called Signa. The family controls most of the company’s shares and votes, so they don’t have to listen to the other investors much.
Some investors are upset because Peugeot Invest doesn’t pay out enough money to its investors, even though it has a lot of valuable things. They think the family is just looking out for themselves. Colette Neuville, who speaks up for small investors, says the family doesn’t care about the little guys.
Peugeot Invest owns parts of different businesses like carmaker Stellantis, bank Rothschild & Co., and even a winery. But even though these businesses are worth a lot of money, Peugeot Invest’s own value is much lower. Investors say they should pay out more money as dividends to make up for this difference, but the family says no. They have control over the company, so they get their way.
This is the first time that people are saying bad things about Peugeot Invest. The company started trading in 1989. The Peugeot family got rich from making cars, and now they have a lot of money invested in different things. Sometimes they make a lot of money, like when they invested in SEB SA, a company that makes kitchen stuff. But sometimes they lose money, like with Orpea, a company that runs nursing homes.
The person who was in charge of Peugeot Invest just left his job. Now some investors want more changes. They want the company to pay out more money to investors every year. But the company says that’s not a good idea. They think it’s better to keep the money and use it to make even more money.
Some experts say the reason Peugeot Invest’s value is low is that not many people buy and sell its stock. They also say that the company needs to be more open about its decisions. They don’t like that some of the bosses have jobs in other Peugeot companies.
The investors who are unhappy want the company to stop doing new things until they get new bosses. They also want to know more about why the company pays the Peugeot family for using their name. They will bring up these issues at a meeting soon, but the company doesn’t want to talk about it. They say everyone benefits from using the Peugeot name, especially in other countries.
