Just minutes ago, GM announced that its equity swap offer to bondholders has failed. Chapter 11 is now almost a certainty, likely by the end of the week.
Writing from the secure Wired GC bunker that’s about as close to GM headquarters as the electric range of a Chevy Volt, you’d think I’d be hearing two cheers from the Detroit bar about the potential windfall from a local bankruptcy mega-filing.
No so fast, as the New York Times noted yesterday, the chance of a Detroit filing:
… is unlikely, however, as bankruptcy cases are typically handled in New York or Delaware, where many business are incorporated and the bankruptcy courts have more experience handling complex filings.
With Chrysler filing in New York, GM is expected to follow suit. Michigan officials have been lobbying for a Detroit filing, most notably AG Mike Cox.
I do have one idea for the Obama administration: let all the lawyers working for GM, Treasury or the UAW know that no fee requests will be supported unless they start buying and driving American.
C’mon down, the lot is full of great deals.
(P.S.: The nuclear Wired GC family drives two Chevys, a Ford and a Pontiac.)