Cerberus, the US private equity firm, is poised to acquire Chrysler, the ailing carmaker, in a multi-billion dollar deal, after a fierce three-way battle against Blackstone, the private equity firm, and Magna International, a Canadian car parts maker.

The finishing touches were being put last night to a complex deal, in which the financing of Chrysler’s $18 billion (£9 billion) worth of healthcare and pensions liabilities will play a significant role.

Cerberus was also thought still to be working out exactly how to absorb Chrysler’s car financing operations into GMAC Financial Services, the former General Motors unit it recently acquired.

A deal could be announced as soon as today, although sources gave warning last night that the talks could still collapse, paving the way for a rival bidder to steal the prize.

Chrysler lost $1.5 billion in 2006 and is undergoing a recovery plan that will cut 13,000 jobs in Canada and the US and pare back production. Daimler-Chrysler announced in February that it was considering all options for the unit, which was taken to mean that it was being put up for sale.

This month, Magna had been viewed as the frontrunner to buy Chrysler because of the close ties between its chairman, Frank Stronach, and Daimler-Chrysler, his perceived determination to be a major player in the industry and his firm’s car industry expertise.

But Mr Stronach appeared to play down his interest last week, saying he would be content for Magna to be one of four or five members of a larger ownership consortium, rather than the driving force. A further question mark emerged over Magna last week as Mr Stronach sold a $1.5 billion stake in the company to Basic Elements, a private Russian conglomerate controlled by Oleg Deripaska, the 39-year-old Russian billionaire with close ties to President Putin.

The link with Mr Deripaska raised concerns that a deal between Magna and Chrysler could face opposition by the United Auto Workers trade union and possibly create regulatory issues.

For its part, Cerberus helped its chances of winning the auction by hiring Wolfgang Bernhard, the former chief operating officer of Chrysler, to lead its bid. Mr Bernhard held that position from 2001 to 2004, during which time he masterminded Chrysler’s last comeback.

Mr Bernhard is working alongside Robert Rewey, a former marketing executive at Ford Motor, JD Power and Associates, a research firm with extensive knowledge of the car industry, and its senior vice-president, Gary Dilts, formerly head of Chrysler’s sales team.

Like General Motors and Ford, Chrysler has suffered from the rising cost of petrol causing consumers to switch from SUVs and pickup trucks to smaller vehicles.

Toyota, which overtook Ford and Chrysler to become the world’s second-biggest carmaker, last month revealed that it was now the biggest.

Cerberus’s worldwide investments include businesses involved in aerospace and military equipment, cars, building products, retailing, financial services, health care, distribution, paper and packaging, property, telecoms, transport and travel.

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