Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Chrysler is no longer government, or entirely American, property now that the Obama administration has finished orchestrating the auto manufacturer’s merger with Italian car company Fiat.
The Department of the Treasury announced last week that the government has sold its shares of Chrysler, which was taken over by Washington to keep the automaker from going out of business. The Fiat transaction entailed paying the U.S. Treasury $560 million for a 6% stake in the American manufacturer.
Treasury officials said the government will ultimately lose $1.3 billion from the Chrysler takeover. Washington originally spent $12.5 billion on Chrysler shares, and will wind up recouping about $11.2 billion.
Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial stability, Tim Massad, characterized the Fiat deal as a “major accomplishment” and emphasized that the government finished returning the company to private hands six years ahead of schedule.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Treasury Ends Bailout of Chrysler; Taxpayers Likely to Lose $1.3B (by Peter Schroeder, The Hill)
Feds Close Chapter on Chrysler: Sell to Fiat (by Travis Sanford, Courthouse News Service)
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