Over the weekend a report emerged claiming Chrysler’s current owner, Cerberus Capital Management, was looking for a potential buyer for the Auburn Hills carmaker and had entered negotiations with General Motors. Chrysler’s CEO Bob Nardelli confirmed yesterday that negotiations with other parties "interested in exploring future possibilities” did take place but said no final decision had been made.
While it has been known that GM had been in talks with Cerberus for several months, it has only now come to light that there are several other parties are interested in acquiring Chrysler. Speaking with The Detroit News, an inside source has revealed that Renault-Nissan, Fiat, and Tata Motors, have all been in contact with Cerberus over a possible sale of Chrysler. However, the same source also revealed that the talks have been put on hold due to the current global financial crisis.
Renault-Nissan and Chrysler are already tied over several platform sharing deals, and this partnership could expand to include utilization of unused capacity at idle Chrysler plants. Adding Chrysler into its fold could drastically reduce Renault-Nissan's operating costs however the current financial crisis is forcing management to tread cautiously. Internal conflict is also affecting negotiations, with sources reporting that while Nissan is pushing for a deal Renault is not as open to the idea.
Fiat and Tata could use Chrysler as a foothold for launch of their respective brands in the United States, and Tata was even rumored at one point to be one of the parties interested in acquiring Chrysler’s Viper business.
Whatever the outcome of the negotiations turns out to be, it is expected that Cerberus will retain a 51% stake in Chrysler.
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