U.S. to sell remaining Chrysler stake to Fiat

WASHINGTON (DPA) ― The U.S. government is selling its remaining 6-percent equity in carmaker Chrysler to Italy’s Fiat SpA for $500 million, the U.S. Treasury Department announced last week.

“After the completion of this transaction, Treasury will have fully exited its TARP investment in Chrysler Group LLC,” the department said in a statement.

TARP refers to the Troubled Asset Relief Programme launched by the U.S. government to rescue firms on the edge of failing during the 2007-2009 recession.

The government still owned a 6-percent stake in Chrysler after the company last week repaid the remaining $7.6 billion owed to the U.S. and Canadian governments under the 2009 rescue package.

The deal announced Thursday also involves a payment by Fiat of $75 million for proceeds from union holdings, which will be split $60 million to the U.S. and $15 million to Canada.

Chrysler Group earlier this month reported its first positive results in two years, with a net profit of $116 million dollars for the first quarter. A rise in sales of its Dodge and Jeep vehicles helped boost its earnings.

In the rescue package, Chrysler was forced into bankruptcy and came out of the process under majority ownership by Fiat.