France's leading auto manufacturer PSA Group on Monday announced the purchase of Opel and Vauxhall brands from General Motors for 1.3 billion euros (1.38 billon U.S. dollars) "to support its worldwide profitable growth."

Following the transaction, PSA eyes becoming "the second largest automotive company in Europe with 17 percent of market share," the group said in a statement.

The PSA Group, which owns Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands, expects the purchase of Opel-Vauxhall to take its recurring operating margin to 2 percent by 2020 and 6 percent by 2026, and to generate a positive operational free cash flow over the next three years.

PSA said it was also buying GM Europe's financial operations for 900 million euros in a joint venture with bank BNP Paribas, which would take the total value of the deal to 2.2 billion euros.

"We are confident that the Opel-Vauxhall turnaround will significantly accelerate with our support, while respecting the commitments made by GM to the Opel-Vauxhall employees," said Carlos Tavares, PSA chairman.

For General Motors, the deal "represents another major step in the ongoing work that is driving our improved performance and accelerating our momentum," said Mary T. Barra, GM chairman and chief executive officer. (1 euro=1.062 U.S. dollar)

 Source: Xinhua