Fiat Chrysler to issue $2.5 billion bond

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Wednesday it would issue a mandatory convertible bond for $2.5 billion and place up to 100 million of its shares to shore up funding for its €48 billion ($61 billion) investment plan.

Investors participating in the mandatory convertible offering will be entitled to receive shares in luxury carmaker Ferrari as part of a spinoff plan announced earlier on Wednesday.

Exor, the holding company of Italy’s Agnelli family, which controls Fiat Chrysler, said it would invest around €600 million ($765 million) in the bond offering. Exor said the investment will be made by drawing on resources currently available.

The market has long said FCA, with a net debt of €11.4 billion at the end of September, needed to raise capital to strengthen its balance sheet, especially as it is still battling with losses in Europe and a weakening outlook for Latin America.

The world’s seventh-largest carmaker, which moved its primary listing to New York on Oct. 13, said the share issue would include treasury shares and stock that will be issued to offset a buyback of shares from exiting investors as part of the merger into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

The group added in a separate statement it would repay ahead of maturity Chrysler bonds due in 2019 and 2021.