MILAN, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Crisis-riddled Fiat said on Friday it had sold its entire stake in partner General Motors Corp. for about $1.16 billion to an unnamed investment bank in a move that will help cut its net debt.
In a statement issued late on Friday, the Italian industrial group said the sale of its 32.05 million GM shares would have "no impact on the industrial relationships or contractual arrangements between Fiat and GM".
GM bought 20 percent of Fiat's cash-bleeding car unit Fiat Auto for $2.4 billion in stock in 2000 but wrote down most of its holding earlier this year. Fiat has an option to force the U.S. giant to buy the other 80 percent from 2004.
Fiat has promised creditor banks to cut net debt to 3.6 billion euros by early 2003 from 5.8 billion at the end of September.