Any doubt that General Motors (GM) - Get Report saw little future for its European operations was dispelled Monday when the U.S. automaker agreed to swallow a $4 billion to $4.5 billion write down on its Opel and Vauxhall businesses to secure a sale to France's PSA Peugeot SA (PEUGF) .

GM will receive a total €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) for its European operations, including €1.3 billion for the car brands and €900 million for the financing division, with the latter deal shared equally between PSA and French lender BNP Paribas.

"This was a difficult decision for General Motors," Chairman and CEO Mary Barra told a press conference on Monday morning. "It was a very carefully thought out plan that took into account the changing (political and regulatory) landscape."

Barra and her European team have spent years trying to turn around Opel/Vauxhall without success. GM's CEO insisted Monday that the business would have been profitable in 2016 had it not been for Britain's decision to leave the European Union. The so-called Brexit vote led to a sharp decline in the value of the pound, undercutting Vauxhall revenues and hiking the cost of imported parts used in its British factories.

GM's non-cash charge on the deal will likely be booked this year, with the sale of the European business expected to close in the final quarter of the year. GM will also pay PSA €3 billion to cover the cost of settlement of some of Opel/Vauxhall's pension funds, which will be transferred to the new owner.

On the plus side, the sale will "immediately" improve GM's adjusted EBIT and adjusted free cash flow, according to the seller. In addition, the sale of the financing unit will serve to de-risk the seller's balance sheet, freeing $2 billion of cash which GM said it will use to "accelerate share repurchases."

GM also secured the option to retain exposure to the European car market with an agreement to purchase €650 million of PSA warrants. The securities will have a nine-year maturity and will be exercisable after five years, giving GM a four year window in which to buy as much as 39.7 million PSA shares, or a 4.2% stake in the group, at €1 per share.

The acquisition will boost PSA's revenues by €17.7 billion to €71.7 billion and leave it with about 17% of the European car market, making it the regions No.2 carmaker behind Volkswagen. It will also load the French business with operations that, by the buyer's own reckoning, won't make a profit before 2020, and then only if PSA remains on target to squeeze an estimated €1.1 billion of annual synergies from the combination by 2020, rising to €1.7 billion by 2026.

PSA said Monday that it had no immediate plans to close any of GM Europe's operations following the acquisition, but warned that the future of the group's six manufacturing plants depended on improvements in performance.

Peugeot shares traded in Paris on Monday morning at €19.49, up 2.3%. GM shares ended Friday's session in New York up 1.24% at $38.23 each, and were marginally lower in pre-market trading on Monday.