GM Borrows Another $4 Billion As Bankruptcy Filing Looms

Lies, deceit, theft and crime in general does indeed pay-look at GM's theft of taxpayer money.

GM Borrows Another $4 Billion As Bankruptcy Filing Looms

formatting link
General Motors on Friday borrowed another $4 billion from the U.S. Treasury and won a cost-cutting deal from Canadian auto workers as a showdown with bondholders set the stage for a bankruptcy filing by the end of the month.

The latest emergency funds extended by the Obama administration take the total government funding to keep GM afloat since the start of the year to $19.4 billion.

GM said it expected that total to rise to $27 billion after June 1, a government-imposed deadline for the embattled automaker to achieve a sweeping restructuring analysts say will require bankruptcy to complete.

The tentative agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers union, if ratified, would reduce hourly compensation costs by about 28 percent after including a round of concessions the union agreed to give in March.

A day earlier, GM won similar concessions from the United Auto Workers to reduce operating costs and pay the union in stock instead of cash to fund a retiree healthcare trust.

Along with plans to drop dealers and unprofitable brands like Hummer, Saturn, Pontiac, Saab and Opel, the pair of labor deals would help clear the way for GM to enter bankruptcy protection with the backing of the Obama administration.

"All of our discussions that we had, it's very likely that they will go into Chapter 11," CAW President Ken Lewenza said at a Toronto news conference to announce the union's tentative contract agreement with GM.

In Europe, GM also appeared to be nearing a resolution of its long-running effort to find a buyer for its Opel unit.

Magna International emerged as the favorite to acquire Opel after top German officials said the Canadian car parts group had submitted a better plan than rival bidders Fiat and Belgian-listed private equity investor RHJ International.

GM faces a June 1 deadline to restructure its debt and operations and has said it could file for bankruptcy if it fails to get bondholders to agree to forgive some $24 billion -- or 90 percent -- of the amount they are owed.

Under Obama administration orders, GM has offered bondholders a 10 percent stake in a restructured company.

A spokesman for a committee representing GM bondholders said institutional investors solidly oppose that offer as insufficient.

"It's been a universal no from the get-go," said Nevin Reilly, a committee spokesman.

"Bondholders are being seen as speculative bad guys; but bondholders are investors, many of whom put their retirement money into GM."

Creditors have complained their rights have been ignored in the restructuring of both GM and its smaller rival Chrysler, which has been operating in bankruptcy since April 30.

GM and Chrysler plan to drop about 2,400 U.S. dealerships, a move criticized by some U.S. lawmakers. Critics argue that the Obama administration has favored the position of unionized auto workers and has run roughshod over claims from other creditors in the process.

Four Republican lawmakers sent a letter of protest to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Friday saying that the Obama administration was undermining GM bondholders in order to favor the UAW, a political ally.

"We are extremely concerned that in the name of restructuring General Motors, the presidential task force on the auto industry has begun waging what some believe amounts to a war on capital," the letter said.

"Bondholders must have a seat at the table during negotiations in how the company would be restructured," said the letter to Geithner from Representatives Jeb Hensarling, Eric Cantor, Mike Pence and Pete Sessions.

Austan Goolsbee, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and the autos task force, said GM bondholders need to recognize that they must sacrifice.

Goolsbee said he expects GM's restructuring efforts to run right up to the June 1 deadline but not beyond.

"Usually these things, and as you saw with Chrysler, go right up to the deadline," he said.

The CAW's Lewenza said the Canadian union had been told that it needed to reach a new contract deal with GM urgently so that Obama could review the terms of GM's business plan.

Lewenza said he was told that Obama would need to see the GM business plan, which will include details of how many jobs it will cut, by the weekend.

The Obama administration steered Chrysler into bankruptcy on April 30 with an aim to push it through the court process within 60 days.

That bankruptcy has been watched as a kind of dry run for the more complex reorganization expected from GM and has moved quickly so far.

The Chrysler plan is to sell substantially all of its assets to a new company owned by Fiat, a UAW healthcare trust, and the U.S. and Canadian governments.

Fiat, Chrysler and the automaker's creditors filed court papers on Friday in support the planned sale and urged a federal judge to reject an appeal by a group of Indiana pension funds that have sought to have the transaction postponed.

Fiat said in court papers that it was concerned about the "deteriorating value" of Chrysler's assets and said a delay "could ultimately prove fatal" to its plans.

GM shares -- which the automaker has warned could be worthless in bankruptcy -- closed down 25 percent on Friday.

GM bonds have been trading for pennies on the dollar for months in a sign of expected default.

GM's 8.375 percent notes due in 2003 traded on Friday at about 5 cents on the dollar.

Reply to
Jim Higgins
Loading thread data ...

Well, the greedy buggers did it again. In Canada that represents about $600 per middle class taxpayer. They are taking from our families.

Time to tell your friends that it isn't cool to own or buy a GM product. It supports tax payer pocket picking.

Reply to
Canuck57

To really be a loan, there has to be a realistic probablity of payback. At $35B in the hold at 0% interest rate it will be 5 million years if ever that they can pay it back.

Take Chrysler, government is already talking about forgiving the loan and the ink isn't even dry yet. Probably the same thing coming Government Motors way. And no one expects the money back. At least the sane and rational.

I can call a dog shit an angel, politicially polish it too, but it is still dog shit.

And with GM's track record on debt repayments and sub-zero credit rating, what gives you the expectation that GM will every pay this off? Fantasy? Pigs flying? GM has a gravity car?

So? We all pay for corruption in the end. I don't see the US people as an enemy of Canada. In fact I have many friends south of the border. American and Canadian people have this in common, their financial liberty is being pilliaged by corruption.

Canada is putting in plenty for GM & Chrysler. Proportially about twice that of USA. Really sucks no mater who gets burned.

Reply to
Canuck57

To add, it wasn't that many years ago they were going to spin off GMAC into it's own because it had income and good books.

No one is asking where did the missing $35B go?

What happened is just like the others, it was syphoned off and disappeared into the debt GM debt pit.

Reply to
Canuck57

In other words, you're not man enough to admit that your previous post was factually WRONG.

Reply to
Dave

Are you "Canuck's" wife?

Reply to
80 Knight

Hard for you to believe, but there are lots of people out there that think GM should be liquified ASAP and bailouts are nothing but corruption.

We the people can't afford the corruption.

Reply to
Canuck57

Very much factually correct.

Where in the US constitution does it say governments are allowed to come in, tax the people to fund Government Motors? Where does common law state government is to prop up loser business, bailout billionaires and pay debts of private business on the backs of taxpayers?

Reply to
Canuck57

In message , Canuck57 writes

That's why Germany won't put any money into the Opel pot until GM spin it off, they have said they "don't want their money going into the bottomless pit that is GM".

Reply to
Clive

I still can't figure this out. Opel and Holden are the best things GM has going right now - why would they spin off Opel? This has to make sense to somebody...

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Didnt SAAB go the same way? IIRC , the Swedish government refused to bail out SAAB. They would wait until it went "konkurs" or was spun off before considering aid.

Reply to
HLS

om/id/30893218

How long will it take to sell off the Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac brands?

-- Olds M'Beel

Reply to
Ward Cleaver

How long will it take to sell off the Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac brands?

AFAIK, they will stay until the last trump.

Reply to
HLS

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.