Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) will pay $1.27 billion euros for an additional 16 percent stake in U.S. carmaker Chrysler this quarter, raising its stake to 46 percent in a deal that was faster and cheaper than expected. The purchase takes Fiat a big step closer to its target of owning 51 percent of the Detroit automaker, control that Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne defined on Wednesday as "happiness" for Italy's largest industrial group. Fiat, Europe's No. 6 automaker by market share, said on Thursday it had reached agreement with Chrysler and its other shareholders to exercise an option to buy the 16 percent stake in the second quarter. The option would be exercised when Chrysler's $7 billion debt with the U.S. and Canadian governments is repaid, it said.
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