LOOK more closely at private equity group Cerberus' purchase of American car maker Chrysler, and you will see that it is basically pocket change, said Forbes magazine.

Forget the US$7.4 billion (S$11.2 billion) figure displayed prominently in the headlines on Monday as US$5 billion of that represents Cerberus' capital infusion into the car business and another US$1 billion an infusion into the finance business.

When all the bookkeeping is completed, Daimler will actually record a net cash outflow of US$650 million to be rid of Chrysler, said Forbes on its online edition yesterday.

So if Chrysler's 15 per cent share of the United States car market is worth basically pocket change, what kind of a value does that place on General Motors(GM) and Ford, the magazine asked?

As at the end of last week, the stock market put their worth at US$17.6 billion and US$16.6 billion respectively.

But if either company were actually put up for sale, though, the numbers might come out a whole lot lower, said Forbes.

It said that Daimler probably snagged the best possible price for Chrysler,given that there were several competing buyers, and Cerberus was not even considered the leading contender.

Also, although it had the appearance of a fire sale, Daimler always had the option of retaining ownership of Chrysler, and in fact will hang on to 20 percent of the company.

Forbes said the Chrysler sale showed that while there may be plenty of capital sloshing around the world, and plenty of firms eager to deploy it, they are not so eager as to want to overpay for a damaged asset.

This will undoubtedly put more pressure on restive members of the Ford family who may be looking to cash out of their holdings, now worth less than half what they were 51/2 years ago, said the magazine.