Today the Supreme Court cleared the sale of Chrysler LLC to the Italian Fiat S.p.A led group. The sale was closed this morning, as the New York Times reported, confirming a wire transfer from the federal government providing Chrysler with $6.6 in bankruptcy exiting financing.
Ever since the bankruptcy filing of Chrysler, the buyer was reported to be Fiat but several road blocks kept the deal from going smoothly.
A White House official said after the sale, “We are delighted that the Chrysler-Fiat alliance can now go forward, allowing Chrysler to reemerge as a competitive and viable automaker.” … “We are gratified that not a single court that reviewed this matter, including the U.S. Supreme Court, found any fault whatsoever with the handling of this matter by either Chrysler or the U.S. government.”
The Obama administration and Chrysler urged the Supreme Court to allow the sale to take place warning that a longer delay could end the deal resulting in a liquidation and loss of over 38,000 jobs.
A $2 billion sale of Chrysler’s assets to a new company allows 68 percent to be controlled by a health care trust aligned with the UAW as agreed on June 1st. Fiat will now control 20 percent while the U.S. and Canadian governments will control 12 percent.
[source: Autonews]
