Fiat Chrysler close to green light for $7.1 billion state-backed loan, bank executive says

MILAN (Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler (FCA) is very close to obtaining the necessary authorisations to receive a 6.3 billion euros ($7.1 billion) state-backed loan from Intesa Sanpaolo , an executive at the bank said on Tuesday.

FCA’s Italian division has tapped Rome’s COVID-19 emergency financing scheme to secure a state-backed, three-year facility to support the group’s operations in the country as well as Italy’s car sector, in which about 10,000 businesses operate.

“We are waiting for the green light from the Economy Ministry, after that, from the audit court,” Mauro Micillo, head of Intesa’s corporate and investment banking unit said during a presentation. “They (the authorisations) could arrive in the coming hours.”

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s biggest retail bank, has already authorised the loan pending the approval of guarantees the government will provide on 80% of the sum through export credit agency SACE.

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; editing by Agnieszka Flak)