- Job Market Politics to Keep Interest Rates Low
- AIG, Symbol of Crisis, Watches Its Stock Zoom Back
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Bill Gates Praises Apple's Jobs for 'Saving the Company'
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Cramer: The Real Reason Stocks Fell Thursday
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Video Game Sales Plunge, but Have They Hit Bottom?
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Few Options to Boost Jobs
- Microsoft's Bill Gates Praises Apple's Steve Jobs For 'Saving the Company'
- Gold Is a Bad Inflation Hedge—Like Oil: Stock Picker
- Intel's Andy Bryant Offers An Explanation
- US 'Actively Working' on Weaker Dollar: Fund Manager
- Options Boil on Biotech Buyout Rumors
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Activision Blizzard's "Modern Warfare 2" Sales Break Records
- 5-Star Manager's 5 Stocks for Changing Markets
- What's The Forecast from Retailers? Proceed With Caution
MOST SHARED
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Share Their 'Optimism' With Eager Columbia Business Students
- Pharma & Social Media
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- China Fourth Quarter Growth Could Hit 10%: Official
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Microsoft's Bill Gates Praises Apple's Steve Jobs For 'Saving the Company'
- Housing Recovery 'Still In Uncharted Territory': HUD Secretary
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Limited Options To Boost Jobs
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
Text Size 
Merger talks between General Motors and privately held Chrysler are moving at a faster pace as potential lenders have thrown their support behind a deal between the two U.S.-based automakers, CNBC has learned.
Chrysler CEO Robert Nardellli said he couldn't comment on market rumors or speculation, but noted that Chrysler has been open about looking for partners and creating alliances. He also conceded that the auto industry is ripe for combinations.
"If you look at the U.S. industry ... it certainly creates an environment for consolidation where you can get synergies of productivity that will allow you to be more competitive not just here in the U.S. but on a global basis."
Sources have told CNBC that GM and Chrysler plan to either reach a deal within the next two weeks or abandon the talks. The key to any deal: Getting GM to embrace whatever conditions Cerberus Capital Management, which owns Chrysler, is pitching.
No deal is assured at this time, and no details were available about how such a merger would be structured.
(See the accompanying video for CNBC's David Faber interview with Robert Nardelli.)
But people at both firms believe there would be big advantages to combining their equity. They also think a merged entity would find it easier to raise capital—possibly from the U.S. government.
The Detroit automakers would hope to receive expedited antitrust approval for any merger, sources said.
JPMorgan Chase [JPM
Loading...
()
], a big holder of Chrysler bank debt, is also pushing for the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Meanwhile, French car maker Renault denied that it was in talks with Cerberus on possibly buying back the Jeep brand, which Renault sold to Chrysler along with American Motors in 1987.
-- Reuters contributed to this report
Print
Email
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates spoke to Columbia students, and Buffett made the students a startling offer.
- They may have wrecked their companies or saved our economy. Tell us what you think.
- Big pharma embraces social media, but how much should a tightly regulated sector say on Facebook or Twitter?
- A European dating site finds lovelorn singles from one country to be consistently uglier. Which is it?
- Contributor David Pogue looks at two of the latest efforts to perfect the digital pocket camera.
- PepsiCo is ramping up its onsite health facilities for workers.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes