Fiat Chrysler plans to spin-off Ferrari

The automobile giant, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has announced plans to spin-off Ferrari and sell 10% of the luxury sports carmaker on the stock market.

The rest of the shares are to be given to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles shareholders.

The spin-off is expected to be completed next year, with Ferrari shares on both the US and European stock markets.

Fiat Chrysler is selling Ferrari in an attempt to raise €48bn ($61bn) to fund a long term investment strategy.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler, said that after the merger of Chrysler and Fiat it was “proper that we pursue separate paths for FCA and Ferrari”.

Since the new combined entity went public on the New York Stock Exchange on 12 October, there have been serious problems with the management of Ferrari.

President Luca di Montezemolo left the company over a disagreement of strategy with Mr Marchionne.

Mr Marchionne described the merger of Chrysler and Fiat as “the end of a long historical cycle”.

The merger stems back to when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in 2009. The company emerged from bankruptcy later that year, with Fiat owning a 35% stake in the company, since then Fiat bought out Chrysler’s other owners.

Industry experts have predicted a Ferrari spin-off for quite a while. The spin off comes at a time when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are reporting robust and strong sales figures, with net profit of €174m for the three months to the end of September versus only €15m the year before.

There are currently no plans to spin off other luxury brands that Fiat Chrysler owns, such as Maserati and Alfa Romeo.