is ford going to become a private company?

 

It could- some parts of PAG (prestige auto group) may go by the wayside too.

 

I don't know for sure, but there was a blurb on the news earlier about Rubin quitting the Ford board over a conflict of interest since he is also on the board at Citigroup. This led to a bit of speculation over Ford getting a loan from Citigroup, but I couldn't say if it was for capital or to sponsor a stock buyback plan, or just to renew their current credit.

 

This should be an interesting soap-opera. The Ford Family owns about 5% of the stock, but controls 40% through different stock classes. It would take about $13B to buy all the oustanding shares- less the 40% they already directly or indirectly own. Sell a few divisions, borrow a little money- and you could own the whole shebang.

There could be numerous benefits to taking the company private. the biggest one is not having to deal with outside institutional investors giving input how to turn the company around or get value from the shares. Think GM, Kerkorian, and his proposed Nissan merger/partnership and you've got a good idea of what I'm talking about. GM's trying to complete a restoration project while their largest shareholder is trying to part the thing out (best analogy I can think of).