After nine years failing to integrate the operations, German carmaker DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX)said Monday that it agreed to hand over control of its struggling Chrysler Group unit to private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP for $7.4 billion.

Cerberus will gain an 80.1 percent equity interest in the future company to be called Chrysler Holding LLC. In 1998, the German company Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler in a deal worth $36 billion.

In 1998, Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler for $36 billion.

The deal comes nearly three months after DaimlerChrysler announced that it was looking at "all options' for the unit. The company also said at the time that it would be cutting about 13,000 jobs over the next several years to better compete. At the company's latest shareholder meeting recently, investors pressured the company's management to sell the unit.

We're confident that we've found the solution that will create the greatest overall value - both for Daimler and Chrysler,' said DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche in a statement. "With this transaction, we have created the right conditions for a new start for Chrysler and Daimler.

Under the terms of the deal, DaimlerChrysler will retain a 19.9 percent interest in the company. Cerberus will provide $5 billion for the company's industrial business and $1.05 billion for the for the company's financial services.

The deal also received support from the company's car union, the United Auto Workers.

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