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A new bidder has entered the race to buy the Chrysler Group, and interestingly it's a company controlled by former GM stakeholder Kirk Kerkorian.
Tracinda Corp, a Wall Street investment company owned by Kerkorian, issued a press release late last week that it was registering a £2.2 billion bid for control of the Chrysler Group from DaimlerChrysler.
Tracinda's release stated that it was keen to "build and strengthen" the Chrysler Group, and would "offer the UAW (America's biggest auto workers' union) and the current Chrysler management the opportunity to participate as equity partners in the transaction."
The latter would seem to suggest that a conglomerate bid might be on the cards, in which Tracinda would take a controlling interest. The level of Tracinda's bid would also suggest that's the case; £2.2 bil is slightly lower than the bid made last week by parts supplier Magna (£2.3 bil), but Kerkorian must be hoping that his effort to build an alliance with, and to raise capital from, the UAW will greatly help his bid.
Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp was the biggest single investor in GM last year, and Kerkorian himself was the man behind the stillborn alliance between General Motors and Renault-Nissan. He sold his stake in GM after the talks between the two giants failed late in 2006; now, it seems, he's keen to acquire a new interest in the motor industry.
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