Jack Williams comments on GM seeking bankruptcy court's approval to become 'new' company
June 30, 2009
Georgia State University College of Law Professor Jack Williams told the Associated Press that despite the much larger size of General Motors Corp.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, he expects it to go much more quickly than the process Chrysler went through just weeks earlier.
"In the south there's an old saying: The pioneers get all the arrows," Williams told AP writer Bree Fowler. "Chrysler was the test case for General Motors. GM's got momentum, government financing and lots of people that would like to see this happen."
According to the AP story, under the government-backed deal, GM will sell most of its assets to a newly created company, 60 percent owned by the U.S. government. The Canadian government will get a 12.5 percent stake while the United Auto Workers union will take a 17.5 percent share to fund its health care obligations. Unsecured bondholders receive the remaining 10 percent.
Existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out, Fowler wrote. The remaining pieces of the company, including some closed plants, will become the "Old GM" and be liquidated.
Williams said it's unclear how long GM's sale hearing could last, but it will undoubtedly go more smoothly than Chrysler's did.
"I think the length is less important than the tone of the participants," he said. "Whether they think it's a good deal, or a great deal, or not, most people have bought into the result."
The story has been picked up in numerous publications and websites, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Charlotte Observer, the Miami Herald, MSNBC.com, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Jose Mercury News, and the Tampa Tribune.