MILAN (AP) -- Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says he plans to launch an initial public offer of U.S. carmaker Chrysler this year after failing to reach a deal to buy out the minority shareholder.
Marchionne told a Fiat analyst conference call on Wednesday that "we are now bent on executing the IPO" and that he hopes it can be completed by the end of 2013.
Marchionne indicated that the push for the Chrysler IPO is due to a lack of agreement with a United Auto Workers-run trust over the value of its 41.5% stake. Fiat, which controls Chrysler, has gone to a U.S. court seeking a judgment on the price, but a judge in Delaware set a trial date for next September.
Chrysler shares haven't been publicly traded since 1998.
