DETROIT -- The interim chairman of
General Motors Corp. acknowledged Tuesday that the auto maker is running out of time to reach a deal with stakeholders and the federal government to restructure outside of bankruptcy.
Kent Kresa said the GM board remains convinced that an out-of-court restructuring is the preferred option, but several looming deadlines could impact that goal.
"The times are very, very short," he said in an interview. Mr. Kresa was installed at the end of March after Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner was ousted by the White House, which also handed GM a June 1 deadline to revise its restructuring plan or face bankruptcy.
"This is a very difficult thing to do," Mr. Kresa said. "We have some deadlines rapidly approaching and the probabilities are decreasing we can do [this] outside of bankruptcy."
GM is surviving on $13.4 billion in U.S. government funds, and Mr. Kresa said GM will need another loan infusion "very shortly."
He said GM would welcome a willingness by the government to accept some of that loan repayment in the form of equity rather than debt, as bondholders and the union are being asked to do. "Certainly, that would be helpful," he said.
The company was able to delay a request for more funding in March, but continues to burn cash amid a global sales slowdown
Mr. Kresa said talks with the White House auto task force in Detroit this week have focused on seeking an agreement on what market assumptions GM can use. The forecasts laid out to the U.S. administration on Feb. 17 -- and reiterated at the end of March -- remain unchanged, with the depressed market tracking where GM anticipated.
GM also faces an April 17 deadline to launch a swap with bondholders that would eliminate much of the company's debt.
The government is also pressing for a resolution to talks involving parts maker Delphi Corp., a former unit of GM that may be forced to liquidate if it can't secure more funding to continue functioning in Chapter 11, Mr. Kresa said.
President Barack Obama on March 30 shot down GM's restructuring plan as too slow and small in scope. The auto maker is working on a new plan as it scrambles to craft a bankruptcy scenario should its efforts fail.
GM's preferred bankruptcy plan would break the company into two parts. One would be the company's stronger assets, such as its Chevrolet brand, that would be quickly restructured. The other would be a grouping of GM's failing assets and obligations that could be liquidated over several years in bankruptcy court.
Mr. Kresa said a large team of lawyers and bankruptcy experts are working to develop GM's bankruptcy plan as the company works on a new out-of-court scenario.
Along with cutting a deal with bondholders to swap billion in debt for equity, GM is looking for deep concessions from the United Auto Workers. Talks with both the bondholders and the union have stalled as each side demands more sacrifice from the other.
"Time is not on our side on trying to get things done out of bankruptcy," Mr. Kresa said.
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