Fiat to buy U.S. stake in Chrysler

Italian automaker Fiat SpA agreed to buy the U.S. Treasury's 6 percent stake in Chrysler Group LLC, ending U.S. involvement in the automaker, officials said. The deal would leave taxpayers about $1.3 billion short of recovering their full $12.5 billion investment in the Auburn Hills, Mich., carmaker, Treasury officials said late Thursday. President Barack Obama is expected to announce the deal Friday when he visits a Chrysler assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported. Obama plans to "hear firsthand from local business owners and residents about the importance of the auto industry resurgence to the community as a whole and the economic devastation it would have faced had Chrysler been allowed to fail," the White House said. The government lent $80 billion to Chrysler, General Motors Co., auto lenders and suppliers in 2009. The Obama administration said Wednesday taxpayers would probably get back all but $14 billion of the money. "As Treasury exits its investment in Chrysler, it's clear that President Obama's decision to stand behind and restructure this company was the right one," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement. "Today, America's automakers are mounting one of the most improbable turnarounds in recent history creating new jobs and making new investments in communities across our country," he said. Fiat will pay $500 million to the Treasury Department for its 98,461 shares of Chrysler and another $75 million for the right to purchase the 45.7 percent of Chrysler owned by the United Auto Workers union's healthcare trust fund. The Treasury will give 20 percent of the $75 million purchase right, or $15 million, to Canada and keep the remaining 80 percent, the department said. In all, the Treasury will get $560 million in the deal, which is expected to close by August following antitrust reviews. Chrysler last week repaid $7.5 billion it owed to the United States and Canada. Buying the Treasury Department's shares raises Fiat's stake in Chrysler to about 52 percent.