GM Bankruptcy Could Take 90 Days Or More: Official
TOPICS:Barack Obama | Corporate Bonds | Germany | Bankruptcy | Transportation | Automobile Industry
SECTORS:Automobiles and Parts
COMPANIES:General Motors Corp
By: CNBC, Reuters and AP | 28 May 2009 | 06:00 PM ET Text Size
The Obama administration estimates that a General Motors bankruptcy would take at least 60 to 90 days and perhaps longer to complete, a senior official said Thursday.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, would not confirm a specific bankruptcy scenario, but the government's deadline for any filing is on Monday.
Empty GM Dealership
President Barack Obama is expected to discuss the automaker's restructuring at that time, the White House said.
On April 30, Obama announced that Chrysler was seeking Chapter 11 protection. Chrysler, GM's smaller rival, is on the verge of stepping out of court protection.
GM and Chrysler are operating under the direction of a White House/Treasury Department task force, which has provided more than $36 billion in bailout assistance to the automakers and their affiliated finance companies.
New GM Deal Gets Majority UAW Approval
The official said GM [GM 0.75 -0.37 (-33.04%) ] , a publicly traded company with a global footprint, is more complex than privately held Chrysler and would take longer to reorganize in court, even under the expedited strategy the government has mapped out.
"I think the 60-to-90-day time frame is a better time frame to establish than something that looks like Chrysler," the official said.
GM would be a private company for some time, under the government's restructuring roadmap, the official said.
The official also said that total new U.S. government aid to GM, including any debtor financing in bankruptcy, would top $30 billion. The Canadian government would also offer some $9 billion.
The U.S. government stands to own more than 70 percent of the new company once restructuring is complete, and the United Auto Workers 20 percent. GM will also turn over its board, but some members are expected to stay on, the official said.
GO CUBS!!!!!!!! /// BEARS
