Word: chrysler
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...Rattner, an icy-eyed, sharp-spoken Wall Street dealmaker, laid out Obama's unappealing options. Chrysler could be scrapped for parts through an unstructured bankruptcy. Or the task force could try to make the Fiat proposal work, using the leverage of bankruptcy to force concessions and the Treasury's wallet to refinance the debt and recapitalize operations as debtor in possession. Some task-force members argued that, painful as it would be, liquidating Chrysler would strengthen the survivors - GM and Ford...
...lowball - bid seems the wrong word - offer went like this: If the U.S. government would wipe out Chrysler's shareholders, buy out its bondholders, cut wages and jobs, deal with its retirement liabilities and fund the warranties, then Fiat would take a crack at Chrysler. The Italians would bring their cars to Chrysler's showrooms and share their advanced diesel technology with Chrysler engineers. Chrysler might sell some cars in Fiat's markets - Jeeps may have the best overseas appeal. Marchionne would lend his managerial chops. And if things worked out, Fiat would take a controlling share...
...Bloom argued Fiat's case, Chrysler's case and ultimately the UAW's case. Gangly and soft-spoken, Rattner's co-chairman is passionately pro-union - an unusual trait among investment bankers. He helped guide the steelworkers' union through the collapse and restructuring of its industry, and this time he came to the aid of Chrysler's workforce. Gene Sperling, a veteran of the Clinton Administration, added his weight to Bloom's, speaking movingly of the human devastation that would follow should Chrysler collapse at such a weak moment for the overall economy...
...Obama asked Rattner to rate the chance that a Fiat deal could be struck, given all the competing interests and Chrysler's extremity. "Fifty-one percent," Rattner answered. "And in my experience, deals get worse, they don't get better" as they take concrete form. On that note, Obama decided to press ahead, sparing Chrysler from the merciless marketplace...
...Over the next month, the task force rammed through an odd-looking arrangement: The government would put up the money. The UAW's Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) - a trust set up at Chrysler and other U.S. carmakers to shift retiree health-care obligations off company books - would own a majority of the shares. Fiat would run the place. And some sort of entity called Chrysler would survive. Despite the protests of some bondholders, the deal was sent to receive the blessing of a bankruptcy judge...