Exor S.p.A. Investment Conglomorate (EXORF)

[Wildbilly]

Exor Chairman: No Capital Increase Needed to Fund Fiat Deal


  TURIN, Italy--Exor SpA (EXO.MI) Chairman John Elkann said his holding company had "absolutely no need" to raise fresh capital to fund Fiat SpA's (F.MI) planned merger with Chrysler Group, MF-Dow Jones reported.
  "We have all the capacity we need," MF-Dow Jones quoted Mr. Elkann as saying on the sidelines of Exor's shareholder assembly. Exor owns about 30% of Fiat.
  "It's far too soon to consider" whether Fiat itself might need to raise fresh equity capital to complete the planned deal, said Mr. Elkann, who is also chairman of the carmaker.
  He added there were no plans to split off Ferrari, a profitable division of Fiat.
  At 1325 GMT, Fiat shares are up 2.6% at EUR5.89. They have risen 30% in the past month on growing expectations that a deal with Chrysler will take place soon.
  Exor shares have risen only 8.5% in the past month and are up 1.2% to EUR24.95 on Thursday.
  Mr. Elkann said that it "can't be excluded" that the company reaches a deal with VEBA, the trustee of Chrysler's workers that owns more than 40% of the U.S. carmaker, before a court ruling over the contested price of a tranche.
  Write to Alberto Chimenti of MF-Dow Jones at [e-mail]

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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  May 30, 2013 09:40 ET (13:40 GMT)
  Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 09 40 AM EDT 05-30-13
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