“New” GM Debuts Friday
DETROIT ?? A bankruptcy judge Thursday cleared the way for GM to leave Chapter 11 and sell its good assets to a new, largely government-owned company on Friday.
A U.S. bankruptcy judge has cleared the way for General Motors to leave Chapter 11 by approving the sale of some of the automaker’s assets, including the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC divisions, to a new, largely government-owned company.
GM will officially close the sale of those assets Friday morning, and GM CEO Fritz Henderson and GM Chairman Ed Whitacre will hold a press conference immediately after to provide details.
Despite last-minute objections to the sale, Judge Robert Gerber wrote in his ruling that allowing the asset sale was in the public’s best interest by saving jobs and health-care coverage for hundreds of thousands of employees and retirees globally as well as preserving the tax base of communities. “If GM were to have to liquidate, the injury to the public would be staggering,” he said.
GM is expected to reveal its new corporate structure, which will mean thousands of fewer salaried jobs including hundreds less in the executive ranks.
The new GM will be 60.8-percent owned by the U.S. government, 17.5-percent owned by the United Auto Workers union’s retiree health care fund and 11.7-percent owned by the governments of Canada and its Ontario province.
Inside Line says: The old GM will remain in bankruptcy, its assets eliminated or liquidated in the years ahead. ?? Michelle Krebs, Editor, Edmunds’ AutoObserver.com
