Washington ? DaimlerChrysler is closing in on the sale of Chrysler to the private financial firm Cerberus Capital Management in a deal expected to be announced as early as today. The sale would unravel a mega-merger of the 1990s and highlights the growing influence of private equity on American business.

Dieter Zetsche, DaimlerChrysler chairman, put Chrysler on the block in April, opening a high-stakes bidding war for the third-largest U.S. automaker. Chrysler is the kind of company that private-equity firms like to target: a distressed operation with strong cash flow and potential for turnaround.

Any agreement that places Chrysler in the hands of private equity is likely to unsettle Chrysler’s U.S. labor unions, which have repeatedly denounced private-equity ownership as the “worst-case” scenario for the company.

Union leaders at the Canadian Auto Workers and the United Auto Workers, who were unavailable for comment late Sunday, have said in the past that they fear plant closings and job cuts on top of those sought in restructuring attempts over the past decade at Chrysler.

The sale also could jeopardize promises Chrysler has made over the years to pay workers’ future health-care costs. Cutting the massive liability will be a big target for Detroit auto companies during contract negotiations this summer.

“One of the fears is that private equity is not what would you call a benevolent society for the preservation of jobs,” said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. “That’ s one of the reasons there will be deep concern on the part of labor.”

Under preliminary terms, a new company will be set up that will be 80 percent owned by Cerberus, while Daimler will retain a 20 percent stake, according to sources familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were still underway. The new company would inherit Chrysler’s $18 billion in debt associated with health-care costs for retirees.

As part of the deal, Tom LaSorda, Chrysler’s Canadian-born chief executive, would remain in his current role, according to the sources. Even as a sale looms, LaSorda is leading the company through a massive overhaul that includes 13,000 job cuts.