Obama Said to Plan for Chrysler Bankruptcy, Alliance

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President Barack Obama plans to announce tomorrow that Chrysler LLC will be placed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leading to an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA, people involved in the matter said.

Administration officials are still resolving outstanding issues, and the plan is not finished yet, said one of the people, who declined to be named. Any bankruptcy filing could come as soon as tomorrow, people familiar with the matter said.

Chrysler’s best assets would be sold to a new entity that would have an ownership structure similar to that envisioned in an out-of-court deal between the Auburn Hills, Michigan-base automaker and Turin, Italy-based Fiat, the people said.

The Italian company would become a 20 percent owner of Chrysler, and a union retiree health-care trust fund would own 55 percent, with the rest of the company staying in the government’s hands initially, people familiar with the matter said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a97rZxZqE4S8&refer=home