Chrysler files for IPO

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler and Fiat, answers questions from the media in Detroit in a 2012. (Rebecca Cook/ Reuters / September 23, 2013)

Reuters4:24 p.m. CDT, September 23, 2013

Chrysler Group, majority owned by Fiat, has filed for an initial public offering.
The move could delay Fiat's plans to take full ownership of the U.S. automaker.

The offering will be underwritten by J.P. Morgan, the company said in a securities filing posted on Monday.

Chrysler's minority shareholder, the United Auto Workers retiree healthcare trust fund, decided in January to sell part of its 41.5 percent stake in the company in an IPO.

The filing comes on the same day that General Motors said it would buy back 120 million shares held by the UAW for $3.2 billion. GM had its IPO in 2010. Both automakers restructured during bankruptcy filings in 2009.

Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Chrysler and Fiat, said in mid-September that the IPO is likely to take place in the first quarter of 2014.

Chrysler also announced Monday that it was temporarily suspending production of its 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee at its Toledo, Ohio, plant to keep inventory in line with demand.

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