Bonjourno, Americano: Fiat Buys Up Remaining Shares of Chrylser

Whether this comes as cause for mourning or celebration, we leave up to you, but the facts are in: Fiat S.p.A. now owns Chrysler LLC. Or, to put it more bluntly, an “all-American” car corporation is now under the thumb of an “all-Italian” car corporation. Because globalism.

As of this morning, Fiat achieved full ownership of Chrysler after a $4.35 billion agreement, of which Fiat will be paying less than half–1.75 billion, to be exact–to close the deal, while Chrysler puts up 1.9 billion, and the remaining 700 million will be paid in four annual installments drawn from the revenue that Chrysler generates, the first of which will hopefully come around the close of the deal on January 20th.

This move puts 100% control of Chrysler’s stock in the hands of Sergio Marchionne, the shrewd CEO of Fiat, arguably to boost his profit margin as the Fiat name brand wallows in losses over in Europe, due mostly to underutilized factories. It’s a transaction that’s come not a moment too soon, as the corporation seeks to get back in the battle against titans like GM and Volkswagen.

As Marchionne said himself, “In the life of every major organization and its people, there are defining moments that go down in the history books. For Fiat and Chrysler, the agreement just reached…is clearly one of those moments.” Surely his shareholders would agree, as Fiat’s stock rose as high as 16 percent and pegging its value at 8.43 billion euros (as of today).

Speculation now scours the internet, as folks predict everything from a resurgence of the Chrysler name to a total termination and liquidation of all things MOPAR. What do you think? Is the transaction of equal benefit to both companies, or is there something sinister afoot? Pitch in your two cents below.