Chrysler Files for IPO

The Chrysler Group has filed paperwork for an initial public offering for some of its shares—the first time the company's shares will be publicly traded since 1998, the AP reports. The move comes at the behest of a United Auto Workers retirement trust, which owns 41.5% of the company, reports USA Today. The trust provides medical coverage for 115,000 former workers and their families, reports the New York Times. Chrysler has set a maximum proposed offering price of $100 million, though that may change, the AP reports.

The move is sure to annoy CEO Sergio Marchionne, who is also the CEO of Fiat, which owns the other 58.5% of the company, notes the Times. Marchionne wants to merge the two auto companies, but the trust thinks its stake is worth more than Fiat is willing to pay, and would rather let the market determine the price. "The union took a very high risk when it accepted shares in a bankrupt company four years ago to cover health care for retirees,” says a labor professor from UC Berkley. "Now they want to share in Chrysler’s success." (More Chrysler stories.)