US Sells All Its Chrysler Stock to Fiat

The Treasury Department has reached a deal to sell its remaining 6% stake in Chrysler to Fiat for $500 million, making the Italian automaker Chrysler’s majority shareholder with a 52% stake, the Detroit Free Press reports. Fiat will then pay another $75 million for the government’s right to buy the United Auto Workers’ remaining stake in the company, $15 million of which will go to the government of Canada.

Fiat exercised a call option on the shares last Friday, giving the government until June 10 to agree to a sale price. Had they failed to reach an agreement, the price would have been set based on investment bank estimates. Tim Geithner touted the deal—and the auto bailout itself—as a success. “As Treasury exits its investment in Chrysler, it’s clear that President Obama’s decision to stand behind and restructure the company was the right one,” he said. The US government will ultimately lose around $1.3 billion in the deal. (More Treasury Department stories.)