Details about how much Chrysler will borrow from banks and the size of the bond sale are being worked out. Terms could be disclosed Monday.
Chrysler plans to repay the government loans this quarter through a refinancing package. The deal would allow Chrysler to return a big chunk of the money to the U.S. and Canada, which loaned the company the money two years ago to help it survive bankruptcy.
The refinancing also allows Chrysler to save millions of dollars in interest payments, and is a major step toward an initial public stock offering that could come late this year or in early 2012.
Chrysler has come a long way since slipping into bankruptcy protection two years ago. It has since slashed costs and is selling more vehicles, such as the popular Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, big improvements for a company whose survival was once in question.
Chrysler has been trying for months to refinance the government loans, which cost the company $1.2 billion in interest payments last year. The company's CEO has said the loans carry average interest rates of around 12 percent, far higher than it can get on the open market.
The loans have been a problem for Chrysler and the Obama administration, which approved the bulk of the U.S. bailout. The loans also have turned off some customers who are unhappy with the government aid for Chrysler and its Detroit rival, General Motors. For Obama, the repayment would repay a big piece of what the U.S. loaned to Chrysler, eliminating at least part of a thorny political issue ahead of the 2012 presidential campaign.
Chrysler has been negotiating the refinancing with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp.
The refinancing announcement comes the same day as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appears in Detroit. He is scheduled to meet with Chrysler's CEO, visit a Jeep factory and speak to the local economic club.
The government bailouts from Canada and the U.S. totaled $12.8 billion. Here's how they break down:
- Chrysler was offered $10.5 billion from the U.S. government. Of that, $7.1 billion was deemed a loan. Chrysler did not take $2 billion of the loan. The remaining $5.1 billion, plus roughly $800 million in notes and unpaid interest, would be paid off with the refinancing package. Earlier Chrysler repaid $1.9 billion. Chrysler has paid the government about $700 million in interest. Bottom line: The remaining balance is about $2 billion.
The government got an 8.6 percent ownership stake in Chrysler and could recoup some of the $2 billion when Chrysler stock is sold to the public. But the government concedes some of that money will be lost.
- Canada and Ontario offered Chrysler $2.3 billion, of which Chrysler took $1.6 billion. The refinancing will repay all of that, plus Canada got a 2.2 percent stake in Chrysler. It could get additional money in the public stock sale.
- Chrysler's biggest owner is a United Auto Workers health care trust fund, which holds a 59.2 percent stake. It plans to sell the stock to pay retiree health care bills that were transferred to the trust by the company.
Once the government loans are repaid, Fiat SpA, which runs Chrysler, will pay $1.3 billion to the company, which also will be used to help repay the government bailout money.
In exchange, Fiat will get an additional 16 percent stake in the company, raising its stake to 46 percent. Fiat also can get another 5 percent after it begins making a 40 mpg car in the U.S. That would give it 51 percent ownership and full control of the company.
