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Fiat sells GM stake to Merrill Lynch
Milan, Dec 21: Fiat said on Friday it had sold its almost 6 percent stake in partner General Motors for about $1.16 billion in a move that will help it meet strict debt-slashing targets agreed with its creditor banks.
Milan, Dec 21: Fiat said on Friday it had sold its almost 6 percent stake in partner General Motors for about $1.16 billion in a move that will help it meet strict debt-slashing targets agreed with its creditor banks.
Fiat said it had sold the stake to an unidentified investment bank. A financial source said the buyer was Merrill Lynch , which is also advising the Italian industrial group on its restructuring.
A Merrill Lynch spokesman in New York declined to comment.
The two car makers said the sale would not affect an option that allows Fiat to sell its 80 percent stake in cash-bleeding car unit Fiat Auto to GM from 2004 -- a rip cord analysts say is Fiat's best way to get back to profit.
In a statement, Fiat said the sale of its 32.05 million GM shares, or almost six percent of GM, would substantially improve its net debt, which the car maker has pledged to cut to 3.6 billion euros by early 2003 from 5.8 billion euros at the end of September.
Bureau Report
A Merrill Lynch spokesman in New York declined to comment.
The two car makers said the sale would not affect an option that allows Fiat to sell its 80 percent stake in cash-bleeding car unit Fiat Auto to GM from 2004 -- a rip cord analysts say is Fiat's best way to get back to profit.
In a statement, Fiat said the sale of its 32.05 million GM shares, or almost six percent of GM, would substantially improve its net debt, which the car maker has pledged to cut to 3.6 billion euros by early 2003 from 5.8 billion euros at the end of September.
Bureau Report