Daimler is open to any third party interested in its 19.9% Chrysler stake, the carmaker’s finance director told a German paper today.
“If an interesting offer were made to us, then we would not wait for our remaining stake to become valuable again. There is no right of first refusal for Cerberus,” Bodo Uebber told the Boersen-Zeitung on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
A Daimler spokesman said the company was currently negotiating only with the US buyout firm, “and with no one else”.
Uebber also said Daimler had fully hedged its exposure to the dollar, pound and yen for 2009 and had already built a hedge of about 40% for next year.
“We systematically use a rolling basis, but we deviate from this on the upside and downside in moderation if we see chances or recognise particular risks.”

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By GlobalDataAccording to Reuters, the Daimler CFO also said production cuts in the first half should help reduce bloated inventories and bring in some EUR3-4bn (US$3.8-$5.1bn) in cash currently tied up in working capital.