The crisis engulfing Marelli, which has amassed debts totalling 4.9 billion dollars, reached a turning point with the company’s decision to file for Chapter 11 in the United States. This legal measure could help the company avoid bankruptcy and implement a restructuring plan. Marelli currently employs 46,000 people worldwide. A failure to secure a positive outcome could seriously affect the broader European automotive supply chain, in which Marelli plays a key role as a supplier. The company is owned by private equity firm KKR, which in 2019 merged Magneti Marelli, acquired from Fiat Chrysler, with the Japanese group Calsonic Kansei.
The group’s financial troubles stem from a series of events that have shaken the global automotive industry, either directly or indirectly. These include the Covid-19 pandemic, the global shortage of semiconductors, rising energy costs, a slowdown in the electric vehicle market, and more recently, new tariffs imposed by the United States. In an earlier attempt to survive, Marelli had already cut 18,600 jobs. Now, in order to stay afloat, company executives have drawn up a restructuring plan backed by a proposed injection of 1.1 billion dollars. An agreement has already been reached with 80 percent of the company’s creditors, who would take over control of Marelli in exchange for cancelling its debt. This would see KKR exit the group entirely, without recovering anything from the 6.2 billion dollars it spent to acquire the company in 2019.
