Chrysler: Fiat offers $125m for Canada’s stake

VENICE: Fiat has offered $125 million to buy the Canadian government’s 1.7 per cent stake in Chrysler Group LLC, as it moves swiftly to increase its control of the US automaker, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said on Saturday. Marchionne, who is also the CEO of Chrysler, said that if Fiat could reach a deal with VEBA - the United Auto Workers’ healthcare trust - over the fund’s 45.7 per cent stake in Chrysler, a Chrysler IPO may “no longer be necessary.” An IPO of Chrysler would allow the VEBA to cash out of its position in the company. Marchionne said a public share offering for Chrysler was more likely in 2012 than this year. Fiat already has an option on 40 per cent of VEBA’s shares.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2011.