AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 23 (UPI) -- Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. and a private-equity partner have bid $4.7 billion for the Chrysler Group, an analyst report said Friday.
"Our sources indicate (Chrysler parent) DaimlerChrysler is very interested in divesting itself of Chrysler," KeyBanc Capital Markets auto analyst Brett Hoselton wrote in the report.
Magna "views its offer as low and unlikely to prevail," Hoselton wrote. But the auto-parts giant sees the bid "as an opportunity to purchase an inexpensive stake in the automaker should other bidders retreat," he wrote.
The note did not name the private equity partner, but said its sources indicated Magna had talked with the Blackstone Group, which filed for an initial public offering Thursday, and Cerberus Capital Management.
Magna and the private-equity partner have already written a joint letter of interest with the bid to Chrysler parent DaimlerChrysler AG, Hoselton wrote.
Magna would take a 20 percent to 25 percent stake in the deal, The Detroit Free Press reported.
Magna, based in Aurora, Ontario, near Toronto, supplies a wide range of auto components, from seats to powertrains. It also assembles complete vehicles in small volumes for DaimlerChrysler, General Motors Corp. and BMW AG.
