Blackstone Group LP may finally get the payday for Graham Packaging Co. that it was denied last year as New Zealand’s richest man drives up the acquisition price.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – US Treasury officials confirmed plans to sell its remaining 6 percent share of US automaker Chrysler Group LLC to Italian automaker Fiat for $500 million, which represents about 98,461 shares of stock.

The sale will give Fiat a majority 52 percent share of the Detroit company whose automotive lines include Jeep. In addition, the sale ends the federal government’s relationship with Chrysler that began with a bailout to rescue the automaker from bankruptcy in 2009.

However, the deal is still expected to leave taxpayers with a $1.3 billion loss.

Chrysler received $12.5 billion in emergency loans from the US Treasury and still briefly entered bankruptcy in 2009, but quickly came out of bankruptcy under management help from Fiat. That resulted in a turnaround for Chrysler, which recorded a $116 million profit in the first quarter of this year.

Fiat is also paying $75 million for the right to buy shares held by the United Auto Workers retiree trust with $60 million of that going to the US Treasury and $15 million going to the Canadian government.

 

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Detroit, MI, United States (AHN) – Chrysler Group has apparently recovered from the slump that hit the auto industry in 2008. With the carmaker’s start of recovery, the company will repay on May 24 the $7.5 billion it borrowed from the U.S. and Canadian governments to further improve its bottom line.

The loans were part of the bankruptcy restructuring that the two governments extended to Chrysler and General Motors when the U.S. car industry was about to collapse from weak sales.

The repayment of the loans is a condition for new Chrysler operator, Fiat, to increase its stake in the American car manufacturing firm to 46 percent from 30 percent.

To repay Washington and Ottawa, Chrysler will use $3.5 billion in bonds, a $2.5 billion term loan and $1.3 billion in cash from Fiat.

Last month, Chrysler announced it would repay the two governments its loan by the end of June. After the announcement, Chrysler and Fiat Chief Executive and Chrysler Chief Financial officer Richard Palmer sought potential lenders, which would offer lower interest rates.

Marchionne attributed the company’s deficit to the interest payments it made on the government loans. In 2010, Chrysler reported a $652 million loss, partly because of $1.23 billion interests it paid on the bailout loans.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Heads of the Toronto and London Stock Exchanges assured Canadian politicians that despite the planned merger of the two bourses, the TSX will continue to be regulated by the federal government of Canada.

TMX Group Chief Executive Officer Tom Kloet and LSE Chief Executive Xavier Rolet told the Ontario legislature Wednesday that only the holding companies of the two bourses would be combined. They stressed that local stock markets will remain, but the move would open wider the doors for Canadians to invest in European stocks and vice-versa.

Kloet added that the merger would also allow Toronto-listed firms to reach London investors more easily, and it would create more job opportunities for Toronto bankers, lawyers and other employees in the financial sector.

The hearing was held as part of Ottawa’s probe into the transatlantic deal, considered one of the biggest. However, the report of the committee will not be legally binding, although securities regulators and Ottawa officials who will have veto power over the planned merger will have likely take into account the committee’s findings.

A similar merger is underway between the New York Stock Exchange Euronext and the Deutsche Boerse valued at $10 billion.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – After conducting a preliminary probe into the planned $7 billion merger between the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, Industry Ministry Tony Clement said Monday that Ottawa will hold a full investigation.

The review will determine if the corporate merger would provide a net benefit to Canada. Since the ministry has 45 days to complete the review and could extend it by another 30 days, the merger could take at least 75 days to be approved.

Aside from the federal government, several provincial governments have veto powers over the deal because of a rule that their securities regulators must approve major changes of the ownership of the TMX Group, which runs the TSX.

The provinces of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and others are preparing to hold public hearings on the planned merger, billed as the merger of equals since both bourses would hold 50 percent stake each in the merged stock exchange.

Clement said the proposed merger is a complex transaction, which would be reviewed under the Investment Canada Act. The ministry, which cited the Act, previously rejected the proposed buy-in by Australian mining giant BHP Billiton of the Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan.

For Ontario, the review comes as an election is scheduled for this year and there is a potential change of provincial leaders.

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