The Italian carmaker who manages Chrysler Group LLC, Fiat SpA, said that their resources are already sufficient to be able to purchase the remaining shares from an employee group and there is no need to liquidate new shares to be able to finance the deal.
In a shareholder's meeting held in Turin, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne mentioned that Fiat may have to dispose some of its assets to be able to handle debt when it gets full control of Chrysler from VEBA or the United Auto Workers Retirement fund. Marchionne said today "If we ever reach a deal with VEBA to buy the remaining stake, we have enough cash for it. Fiat may "monetize assets" to maintain its financing." He did not go into specifics what the company may liquidate.
VEBA owns 41.5% of Chrysler while Fiat owns the majority of 58.5%. Financing discussions with banks are already in process. Last March 5, Marchionne said that the process of valuation for the fund's holdings has started. Last month, people who have knowledge about the matter said that Fiat is knocking at bank doors to refinance their EUR1.95 billion credit line prior to completion of the Chrysler deal.
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