Fiat completes Chrysler acquisition

January 21, 2014 in News by The Manimal

Source: The Detroit News

Fiat SpA announced Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of Chrysler Group LLC.

The Auburn Hills automaker “is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiat,” the Italian company said in a statement.

Fiat gained control of Chrysler as part of a 2009 bailout of the bankrupt automaker brokered by the Obama administration. That deal also gave a minority stake in Chrysler to a retiree health care trust controlled by the United Auto Workers.

On Jan. 1, Fiat announced that it had reached an agreement with the UAW trust to purchase its shares for $4.35 billion.

The UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust confirmed that it received $3.825 billion of that total Tuesday, as part of the agreement’s schedule.

“We reached a successful conclusion that will benefit the trust’s retirees,” said Robert Naftaly, chair of the committee that governs the trust, in a statement. “This was always our goal. As a result, the Trust is stronger.”

Fiat’s board is scheduled to meet on Jan. 29 to decide how to complete the merger of Fiat and Chrysler, where the combined company will be registered, what it will be called and where its stock will be traded.