Monday, June 1, 2009

Officially, Official: GM files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

GM files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The die is cast: General Motors has filed for bankruptcy. As expected, the automotive giant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning in a New York court, listing $82 billion in assets and $172 billion in debts.

As we told you earlier, the century-old company will gain extensive assistance from the U.S. government, the former chipping in $30 billion in financing (GM has already received over $19 billion), that latter of which is expected to work extensively with the automaker as it goes through bankruptcy proceedings that will see the company's assets split into "Good GM" and "Bad GM," the latter of which will be liquidated.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Obama administration has said that it will manage its holdings in GM (the government gets a 60% stake) in a "hands-off" non-interference fashion, with no White House employees serving on the board or being employed by the automaker. However, Capitol Hill will get the chance to influence company proceedings, as it will vote on core issues of governance that include "selecting the company's board of directors and major corporate transactions." While that may not equate to day-to-day management decisions, the government will certainly have the ability to influence company plans through appointments and such decision-making processes.

You can read more about the filing and the ramifications at the link below.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

GM to announce tentative sale of Hummer tomorrow

GM to announce tentative sale of Hummer tomorrow

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, General Motors plans to announce a tentative sale of the Hummer brand less than a day after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Although GM won't release the name of Hummer's (possible) future owner(s) on Tuesday, the WSJ's sources say that a deal could be struck by the end of the third quarter and the H2 and H3 will continue to be produced at GM's plants in Indiana and Louisiana.

It's been widely accepted that if GM couldn't offload Hummer this month, it would be killed during the bankruptcy proceedings, and the General has been entertaining bids from a interest parties, including a Chinese firm, for somewhere in the sub-$500 million range since late last year. When the announcement is made tomorrow, expect GM to be hyping the sale as part of its turnaround efforts and that the SUV purveyor's new parent will continue to work on expanding the Hummer line, including the production of future alternative-fuel models.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]