Government sells Chrysler holdings
Deal leaves Fiat majority owner of Michigan automaker
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government’s sale of its remaining stake in Chrysler Group LLC to Italian automaker Fiat SpA has now formally closed.
The Treasury Department said Thursday that the $560 million deal – which includes $500 million for Treasury’s Chrysler shares and an additional $60 million for the government’s option rights related to the UAW retirement trust’s stake in the company – is now completed.
The government’s shares amounted to 6 percent of Chrysler. The closing means Fiat now has achieved its long-awaited goal of becoming the majority owner in the Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker.
According to Treasury, the government committed a total of $12.5 billion to Chrysler as part of the auto rescue, and to date has received back about $11.2 billion of that amount.
Treasury said it was “unlikely to fully recover” the remaining $1.3 billion.
The $12.5 billion total includes money provided by the Bush administration before Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in 2009. The Obama administration provided Chrysler with $8.5 billion.
“With today’s closing, the U.S. government has exited its investment in Chrysler at least six years earlier than expected,” Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad said in a statement. “This is a major accomplishment and further evidence of the success of the Administration’s actions to assist the U.S. auto industry, which helped save a million jobs during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”
Fiat informed Treasury on May 27 it intended to exercise its option on the government’s Chrysler shares, and the $560 million deal was struck in early June. Fiat announced separately Thursday that it has also acquired the 1.5 percent stake in Chrysler held by Canada for $125 million.