Kerkorian offers $4.5 billion for Chrysler

[David Blanchard]

Here's USA Today's announcement (http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-04-05-kekorian_N.htm) of Kirk Kerkorian's offer of $4.5 billion -- in cash, they stress -- for Chrysler.

My first reaction? Is the decimal point in the wrong spot? Seems to me $45 billion would've been closer to the mark, or at least it would've been a few years ago. Software companies are bought and sold for $4.5 billion -- not one of the Big Three, even if it's not so big any more or even in the top three any more. Maybe Kerkorian's offer price is a good indication of what Wall Street thinks of automobile manufacturers these days.

It'll be fascinating to see how this all shakes out.

[Abogle]

Kerkorian's offer is in the same ballpark (and slightly less than) Auto tier supply giant Magna's offer at 4.6 billion.

Didn't Daimler pay around 28 billion for it a decade ago?

I think they must be looking at the declining market share, legacy and liability costs. Or simply bargain hunting

[rbrooku]

I think Kerkorian was right when he sued over the Diamler takeover. Hindsight shows it was a dumb idea, and bound to crash and burn when the reality of energy supplies finally began to dawn on society. Beyond that, 4.5 bil sounds right. David must be thinking about the 30+ bil minimum needed to turn it around and give it a chance to compete in a world headed toward 5 buck a gallon gas.