Dominion Bank has agreed to buy Chrysler Financial, the automaker's old lending arm, from private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP for $6.3 billion. The deal is the latest example of a healthy Canadian bank using their muscle to snap up US institutions battered by the financial crisis. Toronto-Dominion CEO Ed Clark said Canada's second-largest bank is looking to accelerate their growth in the US. "The Chrysler Financial acquisition delivers that for us," he said on a conference call with analysts. "With this deal we are positioned to become a top five North American auto lender." Cerberus acquired the lender when it bought most of the automaker for $7.4 billion in 2007. Cerberus lost control of Chrysler when the automaker nearly ran out of cash and faced liquidation in 2008.
