What’s with this new-found love affair between the auto unions and private
equity? The main auto unions in the US, Germany and Canada all can’t seem to
say enough good things about the $7.4 billion deal wherein Cerberus
is buying Chrysler. The deal seems to be that the unions will embrace the
offer in return for assurances that there won’t be any job cuts, which seems
to be a reasonably sensible quid pro quo, Cerberus’s history of slashing and
outsourcing jobs notwithstanding.
Cerberus will now control not only Chrysler but also Delphi and GMAC, which
is a little ironic. First the Big Three start selling off their suppliers and
their financing arms, only to see Cerberus bring not only those former subsidiaries
but now also a carmaker itself back under one roof. Maybe the spinoffs were
more desperate than they were sensible.