Kerkorian keen to bond with Chrysler

NEW YORK: Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who offered to buy DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit for $4.5 billion earlier this week, said he wants “a true partnership” with the company’s workers and union members.

Such a partnership would also include investors bringing “necessary new funds” to help Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler expand product spending, Kerkorian’s Tracinda said on Sunday in a statement.

The proposal would be subject to a new labour contract with the United Auto Workers and DaimlerChrysler’s willingness to share unfunded pension liabilities and retiree health care costs, Kerkorian advisor Jerome York wrote in a letter to DaimlerChrysler CEO, Dieter Zetsche.

The automaker is considering offers that would unwind Daimler-Benz’s 1998 acquisition of Chrysler. The only realistic plan for Chrysler is one in which all the parties share equitably, Tracinda said. “Sunday’s statement reinforces Tracinda's intention to forge a partnership with Chrysler’s management and employees in its offer to acquire Chrysler,” said Winnie Lerner, an outside spokeswoman for Tracinda.

US shares of Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler gained $4.23, or 5.3%, to $84.80 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Saturday. Markets are closed on Sunday for the Good Friday holiday. The shares are trading at an 8-year high and have risen 32% since February 13, the day before Zetsche said he was exploring options for Chrysler.