Fiat Near €2 Billion Refinancing Deal

Fiat SpA is poised to sign a deal with nine banks this month to refinance €2 billion in credit, which will help the carmaker buy the 41.5% of Chrysler Group LLC that it doesn't already own, Bloomberg News reports.

The news service cites unidentified sources who say Fiat is in talks with Barclays, Citigroup, Mediobanca and Unicredit.

Chrysler also is trying to reduce the rate on a $3 billion (€2.2 billion) term loan, according to Bloomberg. It adds that both companies could finalize agreements as soon as the end of next week.

The news service reiterates that Fiat is seeking as much as $10 billion (€7.5 billion) in financing for the stock purchase and debt refinancing at the two companies.

Analysts at UBS AG now estimate the Italian carmaker may pay as much as $4.5 billion (€3.4 billion) to acquire the Chrysler shares held by a union-run retiree healthcare trust $1 billion (€750 million) more than they predicted in April. Fiat is still in negotiations with the trust about the price of the stock purchase.