Fiat SpA (F.MI) said Thursday it has named Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) and UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI) to help it spin off auto activities into a new company that will be listed on "major European financial markets."

Fiat is keen to acquire General Motor Corp.'s (GM) GM Europe to merge it with its own auto unit and with Chrysler LLC, in a bold move to tap government funds to finance a slim-down of the auto industry's chronic overcapacity through a horizontal merger between similar, mass-market brands.

"Fiat is pleased to announce that is has secured the support of three financial institutions in its current efforts to act as consolidator in the European car sector with the ultimate objective of carving out these operations from the Group as a Newco," the company said in a statement.

The three banks "will guide Fiat in all the required operations in the months to come," Fiat said.

-By Jennifer Clark, Dow Jones Newswires; 39 02 58 21 9904; jennifer.clark@dowjones.com