Chrysler Group filed paperwork on Monday for an initial public offering of up to US$100 million, an action that could slow majority owner Fiat’s plans to take full ownership of the US automaker.
The offering will be underwritten by J.P. Morgan, the company said in a securities filing posted more than four years after the third-largest US automaker emerged, under Fiat management, from a government-sponsored bankruptcy.
Chrysler did not say how many shares of stock will be offered in the sale. The proceeds will go entirely to the trust for retired workers.
Chrysler’s minority shareholder, the United Auto Workers retiree healthcare trust fund, decided in January to sell part of its 41.5 per cent stake in the company in an IPO.
Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of both Chrysler and Fiat, said in mid-September that the IPO is likely to take place in the first quarter of next year.
Marchionne and the UAW trust, a voluntary employee beneficiary association, or VEBA, have been at odds over the value of Chrysler. Their inability to agree on a price for the VEBA stake led to Monday’s IPO filing.