Fiat 'readying' $10 bn in financing for Chrysler

Banks were discussing lending Fiat money to buy a 41.5% stake in Chrysler held by the United Auto Workers' healthcare trust Veba

Fiat SpA is in talks for as much as $10 billion in financing from a pool of banks to buy the Chrysler Group LLC stake it doesn’t own and refinance the two automakers’ debt, people familiar with the matter said.

The banks, which include Bank of America Corp, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and BNP Paribas SA, are discussing loaning Fiat the money to purchase the 41.5 per cent of the American carmaker held by the United Auto Workers’ retiree health-care trust, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Other banks could also take part in the financing, one of the people said.

Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne, who runs both Fiat and Chrysler, has spent the last four years remaking the two regional automakers into one global carmaker that can better compete with Toyota Motor Corp, General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG. A full combination of the two would create a group with the mass-market Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands, along with the Maserati and Ferrari high-end marques.