Analyst: Magna Interested in Chrysler

DETROIT, April 28 (UPI) -- There is growing support from organized labor for Magna International Inc. to buy a big stake in the Chrysler Group, a leading U.S. analyst says.

The United Auto Workers has approached Magna with a plan for a concessions package, said Brett Hoselton of KeyBanc Capital Markets. Business people familiar with the unions and Chrysler are denying the report, the Detroit Free Press said Saturday.

The UAW and the Canadian Auto Workers union believe Magna is the best possible bidder if Chrysler, the U.S. unit of Germany`s DaimlerChrysler AG, must be sold, Hoselton said Friday.

'The UAW now views Magna as its best chance to secure jobs,' Hoselton wrote in a note to clients, and 'is vehemently opposed to the sale of the automaker to a stand-alone private equity firm.'

There is a good chance that Magna will seek an ownership stake in Chrysler in a deal in the $5-billion range, Hoselton said.