Cerberus close to sealing Chrysler deal: source

By Michael Flaherty and Megan Davies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cerberus Capital Management appears close to striking a deal to buy Chrysler Group, a source familiar with the matter said, in an agreement that would place the No. 3. U.S. automaker in the hands of a private equity owner.

An announcement of the pact with DaimlerChrysler AG could come as early as Monday, the source said on Sunday, with several major newspapers also reporting that Cerberus was poised to win a majority stake in Chrysler.

Germany's DaimlerChrysler put its struggling U.S. auto unit up for sale in February after Chrysler posted a loss of nearly $1.5 billion for 2006 on dwindling sales of its mainstay light trucks.

The sale of Chrysler would unwind a failed nine-year-old merger between the American mass-market brands Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler and Germany's luxury Mercedes line at a time of wrenching restructuring for the U.S. auto industry.

Private equity firms have been active in recapitalizing the troubled auto parts sector but a deal for Chrysler would mark the first time a financial buyer has taken control of one of the major automakers.

Chrysler Chief Executive Tom LaSorda would continue to run the company while Chrysler's former chief operating officer and Cerberus adviser, Wolfgang Bernhard, would not have an executive role but could have a board seat, two newspapers reported on Sunday. Daimler would likely keep a minority stake in the company.

Cerberus and Chrysler declined to comment.

Details on the price or other terms of the offer were not clear on Sunday. A previous offer by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian of $4.5 billion in cash for Chrysler was rejected. The purchase price is expected to be well below the $36 billion the former Daimler-Benz AG paid for Chrysler Corp. in 1998.