Fiat Chrysler CEO asks investors for help persuading GM to merge: WSJ

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne is reaching out to hedge funds and activist investors to help persuade General Motors Co to agree to a merger, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Marchionne has been emboldened by recent successes of activist investors at GM and sees them as a means to consolidate the auto industry, the paper cited the people as saying.

Fiat Chrysler and GM were not immediately available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

GM said in March had reached a deal with an investor group over its balance sheet and governance and said it would launch a $5 billion share buyback program in an effort to avert a proxy war with the investors.