WASHINGTON D.C.-The U.S. Treasury department announced today that it has sold its stake in the Chrysler Corporation to the Italian Automaker, Fiat.
Price-tag on the sale, $560 million. This now concludes the $12.5 billion bail-out loaned to Chrysler in 2008 and 2009. Including payments made by Chrysler on the loans, this purchase money from Fiat brings the total monies paid back to the treasury to $11.2 billion. Chrysler made a $7.6 billion repayment late in May of this year.
Even though $1.3 billion was lost in the deal, and the Treasury will probably not see any more money from either Chrysler or Fiat, Treasury Assistant Secretary Tim Massad called the bail-out a success. He cited the million jobs saved by bailing out the troubled auto manufacturer. He also stated that the Chrysler bail-out concluded six years earlier than first predicted.
Canada and Ontario announced that they had sold their stake in Chrysler to Fiat as well, receiving $140 million, $45 million of which is Ontario’s take. The two levels of Canadian government also bailed Chrysler out for $2.9 billion in 2009. Chrysler paid back a portion of that loan in May as well, but left Canadian taxpayers holding a loss of $800 million on the deal.