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Chrysler fires protest organizer at MI assembly plant

Chrysler has reportedly fired a Warren Stamping Plant worker for what the company is calling a violation of its code of conduct. Alex Wassell (left), a 20-year veteran with the automaker, was suspended without pay after he was quoted in an article in The Detroit News. The 63-year-old welder repairman helped organize a demonstration against a new work schedule and was protesting outside the Michigan plant on February 28 when he was interviewed. Chrysler then fired Wassell when the paper published his comments. Wassell, has since filed a grievance and says that he's looking for an amicable settlement between his union and his former employer.
Meanwhile, multiple civil liberties groups have spoken out against Chrysler's decision to dismiss Wassell. Both the National Lawyer's Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union have released statements on the situation, with the ACLU saying "Employees have a right to air their grievances, even if that means a public demonstration or a comments to the media."
According to The Detroit News, Chrysler spokesperson Jodi Tinson said that Wassell was fired for "engaging in activity constituting or appearing to constitute a conflict with the interest of the company."

Ferrari borrows $2.6 billion to finance FCA spinoff

Ferrari announced Monday that it is borrowing about $2.6 billion to finance its spinoff from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Here's how it breaks down: Ferrari NV, the automaker's parent company based in the Netherlands, is taking out loans totaling 2.5 billion euros. That's equivalent to $2.64 billion at current exchange rates, and is divided between a term loan of $2.12 billion and a revolving credit facility of $529 million. The larger term loan "will be used to refinance indebtedness owing to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles," among other purposes. That ought to constitute the lion's share of the $2.38 billion which the Prancing Horse marque was, according to reports last year, slated to pay its current parent company in order to help FCA fund its ambitious growth plans. The separate line of credit is earmarked "to be used from time to time for general corporate and working capital purposes of the Ferrari group." Though Ferrari is not expected to take any other Fiat Chrysler properties with it, the "group" in this case would include its various financial services and distribution arms around the world that may have been separately incorporated. As noted in the statement below, the financial arrangement "represents a further step towards the separation of Ferrari from the FCA Group," following the separate stock issues from both companies as independent from each other. FERRARI N.V. SIGNS ˆ2.5 BILLION SYNDICATED CREDIT FACILITY Ferrari N.V. (NYSE: RACE) ("Ferrari") announced today that it has entered into a ˆ2.5 billion syndicated loan facility with a group of ten bookrunner banks. The facility comprises a bridge loan (the "Bridge Loan") and a term loan (the "Term Loan") of ˆ2 billion in aggregate and a revolving credit facility of ˆ500 million (the "RCF"). Proceeds of the Bridge Loan and Term Loan will be used to refinance indebtedness owing to Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesN.V. (NYSE: FCAU) ("FCA") and other indebtedness and for other general corporate purposes. Proceeds of the RCF may be used from time to time for general corporate and working capital purposes of the Ferrari group. The Bridge Loan has a 12 month maturity with an option for Ferrari to extend once for a six-month period. Ferrari intends to refinance the Bridge Loan prior to its maturity with longer term debt, including through capital markets or other financing transactions. The Term Loan, which comprises a majority of the total facility, and the RCF each have a maturity of five years.

FCA withdraws its offer to merge with Renault

UPDATE: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles released a statement confirming that it has withdrawn its merger offer, saying "it has become clear that the political conditions in France do not currently exist for such a combination to proceed successfully." The full statement can be read below our original story, which continues below. Fiat Chrysler has withdrawn its $35 billion merger offer for Renault, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. A source said that FCA had informed Renault it had withdrawn the offer after Renault's board of directors failed to reach a decision on the merger during a meeting that ran late into the night Wednesday. Instead, the board granted the French government's request to postpone its vote. The government wanted time to persuade Renault's reticent alliance partner Nissan. Renault's board issued a press release that said simply that it was "unable to take a decision due to the request expressed by the representatives of the French State to postpone the vote to a later Council." WSJ reported that Nissan's two members on Renault's board were balking, while the rest of the board favored the merger. The French government wouldn't it back the deal unless Nissan agreed to maintain its role in the Renault-Nissan alliance, sources said. Nissan had received little advance warning of the merger proposal and was balking. Apparently the French government thought Nissan could be brought around if given more time. "We should take our time to make sure that things are done well," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told French television on Wednesday. When the French requested a delay and Renault's board granted it, FCA withdrew. The French state, which owns 15% of Renault, had also been seeking more influence over the merged company, firmer job guarantees and improved terms for Renault shareholders in return for blessing the $35 billion tie-up. The merger would have created the world's third-biggest automaker with combined sales of 8.7 million vehicles per year, and was intended to cut costs as the parties develop electric and autonomous vehicles. Read Fiat Chrysler Automobile's full statement below: FCA withdraws merger proposal to Groupe Renault June 5, 2019 , London - IMPORTANT NOTICE The Board of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. ("FCA") (NYSE: FCAU / MTA: FCA), meeting this evening under the Chairmanship of John Elkann, has resolved to withdraw with immediate effect its merger proposal made to Groupe Renault.