Bank ratings intact despite LBO funding jam -S&P

(Reuters) - Turmoil in the global credit markets has left banks unable
to syndicate funding for a string of high-profile leveraged
buyouts, including those of British health and beauty chain
Alliance Boots [AB.UL] and U.S. carmaker Chrysler.




The funding, often with aggressive terms, was committed to
when the credit-market sky was clear and investors seemed to
have an unquenchable thirst for debt.


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Chrysler Scraps $12 Billion Sale of Loans for Auto Business, Investors Say

(Bloomberg) -- Chrysler abandoned plans to sell
$12 billion of loans to complete its purchase by Cerberus
Capital Management LP after investors balked at purchasing the
high-yield, high-risk debt, according to investors who were
briefed on the decision.

The unit of DaimlerChrysler AG scrapped the sale of loans
linked to its automotive business after failing to find demand,
said the investors, who declined to be named because the terms
aren't public. Banks led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. will assume $10
billion of that debt and Cerberus and DaimlerChrysler agreed to
buy the remaining $2 billion, the investors said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

RLPC-UPDATE 1-Chrysler Corp postpones $12 bln auto loan deal

(Reuters) - The automaker is raising cash to help fund Chrysler Group's
buyout from DaimlerChrysler AG by Cerberus Capital
Management.




The buyout is still expected to close because underwriters
remain committed to providing financing, market sources told
RLPC.


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UPDATE 1-Chrysler's bankers may take on debt-WSJ

(Reuters) - Chrysler is being spun off by German parent DaimlerChrysler
in a $7.4 billion deal with Cerberus Capital
Management [CBS.UL].




Chrysler's bankers -- including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , Citigroup Inc.
, Bear Stearns Cos. and Morgan Stanley --
have spent the past month trying to convince investors to buy
$12 billion in loans for Chrysler's auto business and $8
billion in loans for its financial arm, according to the
report.


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UAW says Dana healthcare deal not Big 3 precedent

(Reuters) - Gettelfinger said Chrysler and the other automakers could take steps to improve competitiveness outside of cutting labor costs and said the union was heading into the talks determined to "look after the best interests" of workers and retirees.




Gettelfinger also said he expects the U.S. automakers to emerge from the contract talks as "strong, viable companies."


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UPDATE 1-BMW sells Brazilian motor venture stake to Chrysler

(Reuters) - It gave no financial details for the deal, which requires
regulatory approval.




"Chrysler Group has assumed the responsibility for exploring
long-term options for the Tritec operations whereby all possible
alternatives for continuing the business for the long run are
under analysis. This may include a sale of the facility to a
third party," it said in a statement.


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UAW chief says not in "concessionary mode"

(Reuters) - "It won't be an issue for us," Gettelfinger said, speaking on the sidelines of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People event in Detroit. "We are not going in to these negotiations in a concessionary mode."




General Motors Corp , Ford Motor Co and Chrysler Group face a crucial round of contract talks with the UAW beginning this month.


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Daimler down on talk of Chrysler financing problems

(Reuters) - FRANKFURT, July 11 - DaimlerChrysler shares fell more than 2 percent on Wednesday on market talk of possible financing difficulties for the sale of U.S. carmaking arm Chrysler to Cerberus, traders said, but Daimler said it was not aware of any difficulties.



Traders cited talk that Cerberus [CBS.UL] had difficulties financing the purchase of Chrysler, a deal made in May this year and which is scheduled to close in the third quarter.


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Oregon state appeals Freightliner fraud settlement

(Reuters) - In December, the court ordered Portland-based Freightliner
to pay MAN at least $488 million and, with DaimlerChrysler, an
additional $350 million in punitive damages -- an amount
believed to be the largest such award ever in Oregon.




But the parties struck a new deal in late May that excluded
punitive damages, and Judge Kathleen Dailey approved that deal
on June 7.


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DaimlerChrysler CEO sees good years ahead: paper

(Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler announced in May it would sell an 80.1-percent stake in Chrysler Group to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management , unwinding the 1998 merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler that never worked out as planned.




Zetsche pointed out that the risk of being taken over by a financial investor was much lower after the sale.


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Chrysler pushes for more efficient truck design

(Reuters) - The Ram trucks remain Chrysler's best-selling vehicles and
accounted for about 17 percent of the automaker's overall sales
in 2006.




As the No. 4 automaker prepares to launch a revamped pickup
truck line to go up against newer, competing offerings from
General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. ,
improving fuel efficiency is a key part of the design process,
according to Chrysler Group Vice President Ralph Gilles.


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Chrysler commits to new hybrids, better mileage

(Reuters) - CHELSEA, Mich., June 21 - Chrysler Group on Thursday said it would roll out new hybrid vehicles, streamline its cars and trucks and introduce more diesel engines in a bid to improve the fuel economy of its product line-up.



Chrysler, which is being acquired by Cerberus Capital Management in a $7.4 billion deal, has trailed other major, competing automakers in key indicators of fuel economy.


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Chrysler, Getrag to detail Indiana investment

(Reuters) - Getrag bought land in Tipton earlier this year to develop a
transmission plant after announcing that it had agreed to
supply new technology to DaimlerChrysler AG .




A Chrysler spokesman declined to provide further detail
ahead of Monday's announcement. A representative for Getrag,
which has supplied transmissions for Chrysler's PT Cruiser,
would not be immediately reached.


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Fuel plan backed by carmakers offered in Senate

(Reuters) - The bipartisan alternative offered by Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, and Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, would require cars, sports utilities and pickups to get better mileage over time, but is weaker than the chief plan approved by the Commerce Committee in May.




Financially struggling carmakers, including General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler Group, have lobbied fiercely against the commerce measure, arguing that it would break their backs.


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RPT-U.S. automakers look to shift huge health-care burden

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 10 - U.S. automakers faced with
enormous retiree health benefits costs may well join other
large U.S. companies in shifting more of the long-term risks of
meeting those obligations to workers.




Among the biggest companies now dealing with the choking
costs of health-care benefits agreed to in more prosperous
times, General Motors Corp. , Ford Motor Co. and
Chrysler would not be alone if they shift responsibility for
maintaining those programs to workers and the unions that
represent them.


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DaimlerChrysler recalls 1,443 sedans in China

(Reuters) - Imported Chrysler 300C cars were not affected, it added.




It did not say whether any accidents or personal injuries had been linked to the defect.


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European Energy Stocks, Shell May Rise; Daimler, Peugeot Might Fall

(Bloomberg) -- European energy stocks may advance
after Citigroup Inc. raised its forecast for Brent crude this
year and upgraded shares of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the region's
biggest oil company.

DaimlerChrysler AG and PSA Peugeot Citroen may decline after
their U.S.-traded securities dropped.


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GM's relations with suppliers improving: study

(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd.
were rated first and second respectively and held
broad leads over others as automakers that North American auto
parts suppliers most want to do business with, it found.




Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. finished third and
DaimlerChrysler AG fourth in the study.


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GM, Ford Trounce Toyota's Shares, Bonds; Chrysler Buyout Buoys Investors

(Bloomberg) -- In case you missed it, General Motors
Corp. and Ford Motor Co. outperformed Toyota Motor Corp. in the
stock market the past 12 months. The next year may be no
different as Cerberus Capital Management LP seeks to turn
Chrysler around.

Armed with a $12 billion war chest, the private-equity firm
can take a hard line in July-to-September labor contract talks
with the United Auto Workers. That will benefit all of the Big
Three U.S. automakers because contract settlements at one company
usually form the basis for agreements at others, analysts said.


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GM, UAW reach deal on "jobs bank"

(Reuters) - GM and its Detroit-based rivals, Ford Motor Co



The "jobs bank" program, which the automakers and the union created in the 1980s, is expected to be one of the hot-button issues up for discussion.


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