paologorgo
Chapter 11
La nuova GM esce ufficialmente dal Chapter 11, Lutz resta:
GM Emerges From Bankruptcy
Spotlight on New Board After Speedy Workout; Product Czar Lutz Decides to Stay
By JOHN D. STOLL and NEIL KING JR.
The new General Motors Co. exited Chapter 11 protection Friday morning, with the auto maker emerging as a leaner, more-focused company after only 40 days in bankruptcy court.
The quicker-than-expected reorganization could represent a major accomplishment for the Obama administration, which committed $50 billion to GM as part of its bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
The chances of a sustained turnaround hinge on a revamped board of directors the government has installed, in particular the new chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr. The former AT&T executive was hand-picked by the government's auto task force. He was charged with keeping a tight watch over GM management and its performance, something the administration believed the previous board didn't do enough of.
Mr. Whitacre was in Detroit on Thursday meeting with GM Chief Executive Frederick "Fritz" Henderson and other top executives to "give them a pep talk and set the tone," one person who attended the meeting said. "His message was that there are big expectations across the board."
On Friday, Mr. Whitacre is expected to appear with Mr. Henderson at a morning news conference to introduce the "new GM," and will then meet with other GM board members in the days that follow. Mr. Whitacre has been given briefing books by GM financial staffers to study, according to an executive involved in compiling the books.
Mr. Whitacre declined to comment Thursday because he was receiving a "crash course" on the company, according to his secretary.
The first official board meeting is slated for the first week of August, when all the directors are expected to drive GM products and spend several days talking about the company.
Mr. Whitacre and the directors of the new GM will be overseeing a dramatically slimmed-down company. The auto maker is exiting bankruptcy with $48 billion in debt, down from $176 billion when it sought Chapter 11 protection on June 1. It is going forward with just four brands -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC -- and will sell or close Hummer, Saturn, Saab and Pontiac. By the end of the year GM expects to have 68,500 employees, down from 91,000 at the end of 2008.
The transformation was the result of a bankruptcy stay whose brevity caught nearly all observers by surprise. The Obama administration had said GM's trip through court could take as long as 90 days.
"Unprecedented, unbelievable, breathtaking -- all the adjectives apply to this case," said Donald Workman, head of restructuring for the law firm Baker Hostetler, which was not involved in the GM bankruptcy. "There's simply no precedent for the speed with which the government got this through court."
Many of GM's toughest restructuring measures, including the ousting of former Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and the bankruptcy filing itself, came at the behest of the auto task force. The task force head, former Wall Street financier Steven Rattner, appointed Mr. Whitacre with an eye on pressuring management to follow through with the remaking of the company.
That would be a significant change from how the company was run in the past. Under Mr. Wagoner, who served as chairman as well as CEO, directors mainly communicated with him, and rarely interacted with his inner circle.
In an early sign the new board plans to take a more activist approach, top executives have been told to expect directors to interact regularly with top managers, much the same the way private-equity firms take hands-on roles when they restructure ailing companies, a person familiar with the matter said.
The board is expected to weigh in on a management shake up Mr. Henderson has begun preparing. One management move the board is expected to approve is keeping longtime product-development czar Robert Lutz at GM. On Thursday, Mr. Henderson accepted Mr. Lutz's offer to continue working at the company, according to several people familiar with the matter, and will head marketing and communications, while continuing to consult on vehicle design. Mr. Lutz, who is 77 years old and has spent most of this decade remaking GM's model line, had planned to retire this year.
Later this month, the U.S. government, which is taking a 60% stake in GM in exchange for the money it has given GM, is expected to name four more directors to serve on the 13-person board. Canada, which has given GM $9 billion in aid and will own 12% of the company, will name one director to the board.
The United Auto Workers health-care trust, which owns 17.5% of GM, has already named its representative to the board -- Stephen Girsky, a former auto industry analyst who in the past has served as an advisor to both GM management and the UAW.
The new directors replace several who were closely associated with Mr. Wagoner, including the lead independent director, former Eastman Kodak Co. CEO George Fisher.
Six current GM directors will remain on the board. They include former Coca Cola & Co. Chairman Neville Isdell; former Northrup Grumman Chief Executive Kent Kresa, and former Ernst & Young Chairman Phil Laskawy.
Although GM emerges from Chapter 11 with much less debt and lower costs, the board will have to grapple with a number of challenges. It remains heavily dependent on trucks for most of its profits and it's still losing market share to foreign rivals. It will also lose control of its critical Opel unit in Europe when it sells its majority stake.
Mr. Whitacre is coming into the chairman job with no auto industry experience. But some people who know Mr. Whitacre said he's up to the task.
"He's very tough, which is called for in this situation," Karl Rove, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and a longtime associate of Mr. Whitacre's, said. "He's not going to let things remain how they are...this was a very astute pick."
GM, despite its larger scope and international complexities, ended up having a far smoother ride than did Chrysler, whose own Chapter 11 process was plagued by an acrimonious spat with creditors.
Still, the administration remains sensitive over claims that it trampled over existing law in pushing the two companies through Chapter 11. "Every step that General Motors and the U.S. government took during this complex process was in full compliance with U.S. bankruptcy law and established precedents," said Mr. Rattner, the principal member of the administration's auto task force.
With GM beginning a new life as at least a temporary ward of the U.S. government, Obama administration officials have pledged to pull back from day-to-day interactions with the company.
GM is still going to be looking for help in Washington, though. The company said earlier this year that it was seeking $7.7 billion in Energy Department loans to push ahead on more energy-efficient cars. To qualify for the money, it must be certified as "economically viable" by the U.S. government, a step that could happen within weeks.
—Sharon Terlep contributed to this article.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124722154897622577.html
GM Emerges From Bankruptcy
Spotlight on New Board After Speedy Workout; Product Czar Lutz Decides to Stay
By JOHN D. STOLL and NEIL KING JR.
The new General Motors Co. exited Chapter 11 protection Friday morning, with the auto maker emerging as a leaner, more-focused company after only 40 days in bankruptcy court.
The quicker-than-expected reorganization could represent a major accomplishment for the Obama administration, which committed $50 billion to GM as part of its bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
The chances of a sustained turnaround hinge on a revamped board of directors the government has installed, in particular the new chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr. The former AT&T executive was hand-picked by the government's auto task force. He was charged with keeping a tight watch over GM management and its performance, something the administration believed the previous board didn't do enough of.
Mr. Whitacre was in Detroit on Thursday meeting with GM Chief Executive Frederick "Fritz" Henderson and other top executives to "give them a pep talk and set the tone," one person who attended the meeting said. "His message was that there are big expectations across the board."
On Friday, Mr. Whitacre is expected to appear with Mr. Henderson at a morning news conference to introduce the "new GM," and will then meet with other GM board members in the days that follow. Mr. Whitacre has been given briefing books by GM financial staffers to study, according to an executive involved in compiling the books.
Mr. Whitacre declined to comment Thursday because he was receiving a "crash course" on the company, according to his secretary.
The first official board meeting is slated for the first week of August, when all the directors are expected to drive GM products and spend several days talking about the company.
Mr. Whitacre and the directors of the new GM will be overseeing a dramatically slimmed-down company. The auto maker is exiting bankruptcy with $48 billion in debt, down from $176 billion when it sought Chapter 11 protection on June 1. It is going forward with just four brands -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC -- and will sell or close Hummer, Saturn, Saab and Pontiac. By the end of the year GM expects to have 68,500 employees, down from 91,000 at the end of 2008.
The transformation was the result of a bankruptcy stay whose brevity caught nearly all observers by surprise. The Obama administration had said GM's trip through court could take as long as 90 days.
"Unprecedented, unbelievable, breathtaking -- all the adjectives apply to this case," said Donald Workman, head of restructuring for the law firm Baker Hostetler, which was not involved in the GM bankruptcy. "There's simply no precedent for the speed with which the government got this through court."
Many of GM's toughest restructuring measures, including the ousting of former Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and the bankruptcy filing itself, came at the behest of the auto task force. The task force head, former Wall Street financier Steven Rattner, appointed Mr. Whitacre with an eye on pressuring management to follow through with the remaking of the company.
That would be a significant change from how the company was run in the past. Under Mr. Wagoner, who served as chairman as well as CEO, directors mainly communicated with him, and rarely interacted with his inner circle.
In an early sign the new board plans to take a more activist approach, top executives have been told to expect directors to interact regularly with top managers, much the same the way private-equity firms take hands-on roles when they restructure ailing companies, a person familiar with the matter said.
The board is expected to weigh in on a management shake up Mr. Henderson has begun preparing. One management move the board is expected to approve is keeping longtime product-development czar Robert Lutz at GM. On Thursday, Mr. Henderson accepted Mr. Lutz's offer to continue working at the company, according to several people familiar with the matter, and will head marketing and communications, while continuing to consult on vehicle design. Mr. Lutz, who is 77 years old and has spent most of this decade remaking GM's model line, had planned to retire this year.
Later this month, the U.S. government, which is taking a 60% stake in GM in exchange for the money it has given GM, is expected to name four more directors to serve on the 13-person board. Canada, which has given GM $9 billion in aid and will own 12% of the company, will name one director to the board.
The United Auto Workers health-care trust, which owns 17.5% of GM, has already named its representative to the board -- Stephen Girsky, a former auto industry analyst who in the past has served as an advisor to both GM management and the UAW.
The new directors replace several who were closely associated with Mr. Wagoner, including the lead independent director, former Eastman Kodak Co. CEO George Fisher.
Six current GM directors will remain on the board. They include former Coca Cola & Co. Chairman Neville Isdell; former Northrup Grumman Chief Executive Kent Kresa, and former Ernst & Young Chairman Phil Laskawy.
Although GM emerges from Chapter 11 with much less debt and lower costs, the board will have to grapple with a number of challenges. It remains heavily dependent on trucks for most of its profits and it's still losing market share to foreign rivals. It will also lose control of its critical Opel unit in Europe when it sells its majority stake.
Mr. Whitacre is coming into the chairman job with no auto industry experience. But some people who know Mr. Whitacre said he's up to the task.
"He's very tough, which is called for in this situation," Karl Rove, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and a longtime associate of Mr. Whitacre's, said. "He's not going to let things remain how they are...this was a very astute pick."
GM, despite its larger scope and international complexities, ended up having a far smoother ride than did Chrysler, whose own Chapter 11 process was plagued by an acrimonious spat with creditors.
Still, the administration remains sensitive over claims that it trampled over existing law in pushing the two companies through Chapter 11. "Every step that General Motors and the U.S. government took during this complex process was in full compliance with U.S. bankruptcy law and established precedents," said Mr. Rattner, the principal member of the administration's auto task force.
With GM beginning a new life as at least a temporary ward of the U.S. government, Obama administration officials have pledged to pull back from day-to-day interactions with the company.
GM is still going to be looking for help in Washington, though. The company said earlier this year that it was seeking $7.7 billion in Energy Department loans to push ahead on more energy-efficient cars. To qualify for the money, it must be certified as "economically viable" by the U.S. government, a step that could happen within weeks.
—Sharon Terlep contributed to this article.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124722154897622577.html
- speriamo di no...), il potere usufruire delle perdite pregresse rappresenta un "valore" enorme. Personalmente spero non sia possibile, perchè sarebbe ingiusto nei confronti di tutte le altre aziende che non lo hanno potuto fare, rispettando le restrittive leggi che gli USA hanno in materia, e perchè se cambiano legge/consuetudine, allora saranno ancora maggiori gli "incentivi" a fare dei Chapter 11 finalizzati alla vendita della good Company in 363, spazzando via azionisti e penalizzando i creditori (tra cui gli obbligazionisti...). Uno scenario che perfino io giudico eccessivo... 