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BusinessWeek – The list of dissidents is much smaller than the original 20 or so hedge funds that veoted a pre-bankruptcy deal to reduce Chrysler’s outstanding secured debt. The list of hedge funds that are still members of the opposition group calling themselves Chrysler Non-Tarp Lenders is down to just six funds. In all, the funds control $295 million of Chrysler debt, a far cry from the nearly $1 billion the original group of 20 had controlled.
The dissidents included funds managed by Schultze Asset Management, Arrow Hedge Partners, Stairway Capital, OppenheimerFunds, Foxhill Capital Partners and Group G Partners. Early on, Stairway Capital and Oppenheimer had been identified as leaders of the Chrsyler holdouts, but the others funds had not.
The Business Insider – It looks like the "surgical" 30-60 day bankruptcy may be a go.
Late last night, after a marathon session in court, Judge Arthur Gonzalez basically approved the plan to merge Chrysler into Fiat, rejecting the claims from the senior secured (though minority) bondholders.
President Obama’s harsh attack on hedge funds he blamed for forcing Chrysler into bankruptcy yesterday sparked cries of protest from the secretive financial firms that hold about $1 billion of the automaker’s debt.
Hedge funds and investment managers were irate at Obama’s description of them as "speculators" who were "refusing to sacrifice like everyone else" and who wanted "to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout."
"Some of the characterizations that were used today to refer to us as speculators or to say we’re looking for a bailout is really unfair," said one executive who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. "What we’re looking for is a reasonable payout on the value of the debt . . . more in line with what unions and Fiat were getting."
Reuters – The U.S. Treasury raised its offer by $250 million (168.9 million pounds) in debt restructuring talks with Chrysler lenders on Wednesday as part of a final push to win over lenders holding out for better terms and avoid bankruptcy, two people person briefed on the closed-door talks said.
The lenders had until 6 p.m. ET to vote on the offer, which was made late Wednesday afternoon, one of the sources said.
Herald Tribune – The Treasury Department has increased its offer to repay Chrysler’s senior lenders as part of continuing talks on how to reduce the company’s debt, a person who had been briefed on the talks said on Wednesday.
The government’s new plan, however, still shows a broad chasm between the two sides as Chrysler races to complete a reorganization plan by April 30 or face a near-certain liquidation through bankruptcy.
Times Online – Accountants and lawyers who are trying to sort out the European collapse of Lehman Brothers, the American investment bank, have charged more than £100million in fees in six months.
The bonanza shows no sign of abating. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the administrator, says that costs will accrue at a similar rate over the coming months as a team of nearly 1,500 people unwinds the complex financial web behind the world’s biggest bankruptcy.
PwC paid a further £114.8 million to 800 employees of the bankrupt bank who stayed on to help to unwind millions of trades between Lehman and other banks and hedge funds.
CNN Money – They pray for recessions and smile a little wider when a company climbs onto its death bed.
Welcome to the world of distressed, or so-called "vulture" investors, an often-ignored corner of the market that has increasingly taken center stage as more businesses slip into bankruptcy or look to shed assets.
There has been no shortage of corporate ruin lately. Lehman Brothers, which sent a shockwave across the financial system. Outside of the banking sector, electronics retailer Circuit City and media giant Tribune Co both filed for bankruptcy.
CNNMoney.com – General Motors and Chrysler LLC have about a week or less before they find out if they’ll get the additional help they need from taxpayers, creditors and unions to avoid bankruptcy.
What they already know is that any assistance they receive won’t be given happily.
The two companies face a March 31 deadline to win concessions from bondholders and unions in order to prove to the Treasury Department that they can be viable in the long term. Without such a finding, the government can recall the $13.4 billion it has already lent to GM (GM, Fortune 500) and the $4 billion it loaned to Chrysler.
Few expect Treasury to take such a drastic step.Still, it’s clear that the automakers need more than the loans they already have received. Chrysler is on record as saying it needs as much as $5 billion in additional funds by March 31 to avoid being forced into bankruptcy.
West Sussex County Times – A former soldier who shot himself in the head in Southampton was facing bankruptcy after becoming the victim of an alleged fraud by US banker Bernard Madoff, his grieving son said.
The son of William Foxton, 65, said he father was so distraught after losing his family’s entire savings in the multibillion-dollar investment scam that he shot himself in a park on Tuesday with a handgun.
Bloomberg – It has been a year of record misery: the largest bankruptcy, bank failure and Ponzi scheme in U.S. history; $720 billion in writedowns and losses by financial institutions; $30.1 trillion in market valuation wiped out.
The biggest loss and the hardest thing to recover, though, may be something that can’t be precisely measured — confidence in the markets and the firms that rely on them.
“The wholesale funding model lost its credibility,” said David Hendler, senior analyst at New York-based CreditSights Inc. “That started the semi-nationalization of funding in the financial markets. It’s a real chink in the armor of capitalism as supposedly the best process for allocating capital. The government is now deciding who gets access to capital.”
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Holiday airline Sun Country filed for bankruptcy yesterday, just 3 days after the arrest of investor Thomas Petters, founder of Petters Group Worldwide, the firm that owns Sun Country among other investments.
Petters was charged with mail and wire fraud, money laundering and obstructing justice.
"We were forced to take this action as a result of recent events at Petters Group Worldwide," said Sun Country Chairman and CEO Stan Gadek. The airline said that it would continue to fly its regular schedule.
A federal judge in Minneapolis order Petters to be held without bail after a taped phone conversation revealed that the disgraced entrepreneur planned to leave the country. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Petters has stated that he plans to fight to be released from custody and maintains his innocence.
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Bizjournals.com – A Minneapolis hedge fund has sued Petters Group Worldwide, alleging it was defrauded out of $60 million in a deal involving “imaginary televisions.”
Interlachen Harriet Investments, a Cayman Islands-based unit of Minneapolis-based Interlachen Capital Group, filed the suit Wednesday, saying that it gave $60 million to Petters Co. Inc. to purchase electronic merchandise such as televisions. PCI, a unit of Petters Group Worldwide, was to resell the televisions at a profit. Interlachen alleges that PCI never purchased any merchandise, and used the investment to fund former CEO Tom Petters’ other business ventures, pay down debt and for personal use.
The suit is similar to federal allegations made last week that Petters and several associates bought and sold nonexistent goods with investors’ money for more than a decade by creating the image of a successful retail business.
