UAW v. FIAT

Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 and at the time, it issued membership interests to the United States Department of the Treasury, Fiat, and the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust (the Trust), a health trust that was formed to provide medical benefits to current and future Chrysler retirees in the future. The Trust also received certain other assets including a note from Chrysler. Fiat had the option to repurchase certain percentages of the membership interests held by the Trust based on a formula. In July 2012, Fiat exercised its option to purchase a portion of the membership interests held by the Trust, leading to a disagreement over the price of the interests. Compass Lexecon’s President Professor Daniel R. Fischel and Compass Lexecon were retained by Alan Unger of Sidley Austin LLP on behalf of the Trust to assist in analyzing Chrysler’s value and the fairness of the price for the Chrysler membership interests held by the Trust. Ultimately, Fiat and the Trust reached a broader settlement under which Fiat agreed to buy all of the membership interests held by the Trust for $4.35 billion, implying a value of more than $10 billion for Chrysler’s equity. Professor Fischel was assisted by Rajiv Gokhale, Rahul Sekhar, and Cliff Ang in Compass Lexecon’s Chicago office.