Fiat Shares Skyrocket As It Purchases Remaining Shares Of Chrysler

Shares in car maker Fiat soared on Thursday on the news it will take full ownership of Chrysler, but Italian union leaders worried what the deal will mean for jobs and investments in the country.

In a New Year’s day announcement, Fiat Spa said it could complete its acquisition of Chrysler without having to raise new capital through a rights issue. Investors cheered the details of the deal, bidding the shares up 12 percent on the Milan exchange. The stock was up by as much as 15.8 percent earlier in the day.

Fiat said it had reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers union-controlled trust fund holding 41.5 percent of Chrysler’s shares. Fiat already held all the other shares.

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MattDarringer - 1/2/2014 10:44:20 AM

+1 Boost

It will all come down to product and so far Marchionne's leadership has not been brilliant. Yeah his dream has come true, but Alfa Romeo is a dead brand. Lancia is a dead brand. Fiat is not the equal of VW and Ford in Europe. Fiatler (Chryiat??) is miles away from being a healthy company. I wish them well, but I'm not optimistic.

The Dart is a dud in many ways. The Cherokee was delayed for quality glitches on the transmission. The 500L has production interruptions at the factory level. The Qporte apparently can incinerate itself. The 200 needed to be in the dealers 2 years ago and should have arrived with the Dart given that it is a "super" Dart.

I'm hoping that Marchionne is smart enough to cut a deal with Mazda--as Ford did to great advantage--and start producing great cars as opposed to OK cars.

dlin - 1/2/2014 3:18:16 PM

+1 Boost

Even Italian is taking over US now....

vdiv - 1/2/2014 10:36:37 PM

+2 Boost

So the Big Three US car companies now are GM, Ford, and... Tesla Motors.

Cheers! :)

mini22 - 1/3/2014 10:34:05 AM

+1 Boost

So all these comments are a harbiger of doom and frankly without any merit.Chrysler has had improved vehicle sales month on month for the last nearly 2 years.TheJeep Cherokee(which was admittedly delayed to make sure the transmission had no glitches to it) is flying off dealer lots now.Let me also point out that this platform comes from Alfa Romeo.
Speaking of Alfa Romeo have any of you heard of a car called the 4C. It's gotten rave reviews in Europe and is coming to America. Lets talk about the Dart. It's primary problem was engine and dual clutch transmission.With the GT and the 2.4 Tiger Shark engine offered in the rest of the model range it's an improved proposition.Chrysler was a company that was on the ropes 5 years ago. It was owned by a German company (Daimler) for over 10 yrs.(Don't buy into that merger of equals crap. Daimler owned 51% and pulled all the strings). Other than the Chrysler 300 and Charger they really contributed nothing to Chrysler during their ownership. In fact they pretty much gutted the company. Cerberus also did nothing for Chrysler other than trying to find a buyer. Marchionne and Fiat has really committed to Chrysler over the last 5 years. The oversaw emergency upgrades to mostly aging platforms in an an month turnaround.They introduced Fiat back into the US market, as well as the Dart. Now comes the 200 replacement.(Yes it took a while).These are all positive things. There is definate platform sharing that has come and will continue. This includes the 300/Charger/Challenger replacement being shared with Alfa Romeo, a small Jeep being shared with a Fiat platform. Further Fiat may become an American company now that the merger is finally completed.There is a strong possibility that Fiat may move it's main headquarters to Auburn Hills. 5 years ago Chrysler had "zero" options. GM had very little more than zero. But the've both come back with record sales. In Chryslers case enough to help Fiat fund car programs for it's Europe operation and revitalize Alfa Romeo. Death comes before rebirth.