April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Magna International Inc. and private- equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Centerbridge Capital Partners LLC submitted bids for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit, people familiar with the negotiations said.

The offers from Magna, Canada's largest auto-parts supplier, and the joint proposal from the New York financial companies indicate DaimlerChrysler is making progress in its attempt to shed the unprofitable U.S. sales arm nine years after buying it.

Dieter Zetsche, chief executive officer of the Stuttgart, Germany, automaker, said today for the first time that he's negotiating the sale of Chrysler.

``We are talking with some of the potential partners who have shown a clear interest,'' said Zetsche at the company's annual general meeting in Berlin. He triggered the bidding on Feb. 14 with his surprise announcement that he was considering all options for Chrysler.

The company had asked potential bidders to show their interest by March 30, one of the people said. Cerberus Capital Management LLC also notified DaimlerChrysler before the deadline of its plans to bid, a person said.

Blackstone and Centerbridge teamed to make their offer, said two of the people, who didn't want to named because the talks are private. Magna, of Aurora, Ontario, is working with an undisclosed private-equity company, according to Brett Hoselton, a KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst in Cleveland, in a March 23 report.

The sale of Chrysler may fetch as much as $6 billion for DaimlerChrysler, Goldman Sachs analyst Stefan Burgstaller in London said in a March 16 research note. It will also allow Daimler to shed a division that lost $1.5 billion last year and stoked shareholder ire against the company's management.

No ID

Zetsche today declined to identify the bidders or disclose details of the talks.

Chrysler spokesman Mike Aberlich, Blackstone spokesman John Ford, Magna spokeswoman Tracy Fuerst and Centerbridge spokeswoman Mary Leung all declined to comment. Cerberus spokesman Peter Duda declined to make any public comments on the bidding.

Cerberus last year led a group that bought a 51 percent stake in GM's financial-services unit, now called GMAC LLC. The firm is also negotiating an accord under which it would lead six other financial companies in a $3.4 billion investment in bankrupt Delphi Corp., the biggest U.S. auto-parts maker. Blackstone owns a 55 percent stake in TRW Automotive Inc., the biggest maker of automotive safety systems.

The Detroit News reported the Blackstone-Centerbridge bid today.

The auto-parts maker, North America's largest, also assembles vehicles for Chrysler at a plant in Austria.

Chrysler's U.S. market share dropped to 12.9 percent from 16.1 percent in 1998. U.S. shares of DaimlerChrysler fell 38 cents to $82.57 at 4:18 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have risen 18 percent since Feb. 14.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bennett in Southfield, Michigan, at jbennett17@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: April 4, 2007 18:13 EDT