General Motors (GM) edged closer to bankruptcy last night after bankers branded the carmaker’s revamped survival plan as “neither reasonable nor adequate”. Under new debt-for-equity swap proposals, bond investors would hold 10 per cent of the company in return for wiping out $27.2 billion (£18.6 billion) of GM’s unsecured debt, at a rate of 225 shares for each $1,000 of loan. The US Government would take a majority stake in GM, although the White House last night said that it did not want to run the company. Existing shareholders would be left with only 1 per cent of the company. Under the plan, 21,000 jobs in the US are to go, dealerships are to be almost halved to 3,605, the Pontiac marque will be scrapped and the Saab, Saturn and Hummer businesses will be sold or shut by the end of this year. If no deal is reached, GM will go bankrupt by June 1. Bond investors, which include Franklin Templeton Investments, Fidelity Investments and Loomis Sayles, believe the debt offer will fail and last night claimed that it was made without prior discussion. A statement issued by GM bondholders said: “We believe the offer to be a blatant disregard of fairness for the bondholders who have funded this company and amounts to using taxpayer money to show political favouritism of one creditor over another.” The advisers are preparing to issue a counter offer within the next ten days. GM, in its revised survival plans, made no mention of Vauxhall, its British operation, which employs 5,000 people, nor of the German business operating under the Opel brand with a workforce of 25,000. Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, the union, said that a fire-sale by GM of Opel and Vauxhall to Fiat might follow as part of GM’s restructuring. Mr Woodley said that the British, German and Spanish governments should fight such a move because GM Europe needed far more investment than Fiat could muster. Fritz Henderson, chief executive of GM, admitted that the chance of bondholders agreeing to the debt-for-equity swap by the May 25 deadline was slight. He said: “It’s not impossible, but the bankruptcy is now more probable.” GM is surviving on $15.4 billion of US taxpayer loans and wants a further $11.6 billion. The UAW union has been offered a 39 per cent stake if it gives up its claim to half of the $20 billion that GM owes to employees’ healthcare plans. — Daimler, the German carmaker, has reached a deal to give up its 19.9 per cent in Chrysler and forgive the struggling carmaker’s outstanding loans. ，英语毕业论文，英语毕业论文 |
