Fiat SpA enlists Bloom to advise on acquisition

9/21/2013

DETROIT — Fiat SpA has retained Ron Bloom, a key architect of its 2009 takeover of Chrysler, to advise it on how to buy the portion of Chrysler Group now held by a United Auto Workers health care trust, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Mr. Bloom was second-in-command on President Obama’s auto task force that oversaw the 2009 taxpayer-funded bankruptcies of Chrysler and General Motors. He is now vice chairman of Lazard, a global investment firm.

His mission for Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne: Find the least expensive way to acquire the 41.5 percent Chrysler share held by the UAW’s Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, responsible for health care coverage for about 63,000 retired Chrysler union members.