The Wall Street Journal is reporting that activity surrounding a possible purchase of Chrysler is "accelerating," as parent company DaimlerChrysler looks to have a concrete offer on the table by the company's April 4 shareholder meeting in Berlin.
But industry insiders such as Christoph Stürmer of Global Insight in Frankfurt believe DaimlerChrysler won't part with its North American unit: "I don't think they're going to go through with it, because the organization is just not ready to be split up." Most likely to buy Chrysler at the moment: private-equity giants Cerberus Capital Management and a separate group led by Blackstone Group and Centerbridge Partners. Another company that has shown considerable interest is Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International, possibly in partnership with a private-equity firm. The company already gets 25% of its business from Chrysler and the company believes it is in a strong position to negotiate better deals with the auto unions. Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's warned yesterday that it may be forced to reduce Magna's long-term credit rating should the company buy Chrysler, since a deal would put Magna under significant financial stress considering Chrysler's heavy debt load, and would likely could take time away from Magna's core business.
No comments:
Post a Comment