Monday 1st June 2009

General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of the Obama administration’s plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government. GM assets were valued at $82.2 billion with liabilities at $172 billion. The US government planned to receive 60.8% of GM stock, Canada’s government 11.7%, the UAW’s trust 17.5% and bondholders 10%. GM said it would permanently close nine more plants and idle three others to trim production and labor costs under bankruptcy protection. GM was expected to lose 14 factories, 29,000 workers and 2,400 dealers.