The Supreme Court is holding up the transaction with Fiat. WSJ:
The future of Chrysler LLC may be in jeopardy after the U.S. Supreme Court Monday delayed the auto maker’s sale to Fiat SpA at the request of several Indiana pension funds and consumer groups opposed to the transaction.
Ahead of the decision, Chrysler LLC and the federal government warned such an intervention might lead to the liquidation of the automaker. But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a brief order, said the court will extend a temporary stay put in place by an appeals court “pending further order of the undersigned or of the court.”….
According to a Chrysler filing, the Indiana pensions challenging the deal are set to lose only $5 million dollars under the terms of the Fiat purchase. The funds spent $17 million of Chrysler debt and are set to receive $12.2 million after the transaction is complete, the automaker said. The pension funds, in their own filing, put their losses in the “millions of dollars.”
“The negative economic consequences of permitting an unlawful sale to proceed may well over time dramatically outweigh Chrysler’s short-term harm,” the funds said.
Chrysler’s scare tactic is to cite Fiat’s June 15th deadline to get the deal done. If Fiat walks away, there are no other buyers, which they say will force the company to liquidate.
