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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (66305)	9/21/2010 9:26:21 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 218235

Take GM off government books and they'll complain? GM cost $50 billion already. They will comeback for more. US may recoup $50 bn from GM: Ex-task force chief Reuters / Washington/ Detroit September 21, 2010, 16:27 IST US taxpayers have a shot at recovering the entire $50 billion bailout of General Motors Co or an amount close to it, the Obama administration's former pointman on auto restructuring said. Steven Rattner, a veteran Wall Street investor, told Reuters in an interview on Monday that current projections of GM's value ahead of a planned public share sale this year offer the possibility of a full return, but not immediately. "I wouldn't rule out the possibility of our recovering the full $50 billion," Rattner said, adding the administration initially viewed a realistic time frame as between 3 and 5 years to at least recoup a substantial part of its stake. "I think the success of the company may make that shorter but I think it's too early to tell," Rattner said. Government ownership of GM is a recurrent talking point of bailout opponents and critics of US intervention in private business, who include prominent Republicans set for major gains in the November congressional elections. They are looking for concrete evidence that the administration is doing everything possible in the GM case to maximize taxpayer returns. Investors are eager for more details about GM's return to public markets, including the government's exit strategy from GM ownership, and whether cornerstone stakeholders will include state-controlled funds, like China's top automaker. Rattner says the administration wants to recover as much as it can and as rapidly as possible but the outcome depends on a number of factors, including the health of the financial markets, the economy, the patience of Treasury in winding down its stake, and the performance of GM and the overall industry. Rattner's comments accompanied the release of his book, "Overhaul," about leading the Treasury Department task force in 2009 that led the restructuring of GM and Chrysler with the help of more than $60 billion in bailout and bankruptcy financing. Rattner left Washington more than a year ago and received high marks for his work on the task force. Former GM CEO Ed Whitacre hoped that the $50 billion, which includes about $20 billion in working capital extended by the Bush administration and $30 billion in bankruptcy financing and other aid under Obama, would be fully repaid. Whitacre's successor, Dan Akerson, said last week that repaying the government could take several years but he did not offer a figure. The Treasury Department, which holds a nearly 61 per cent stake in GM, has said it wants to recoup as much as possible. But its eagerness to shed politically sensitive taxpayer ownership of GM could be a factor that leaves it short of full repayment. Rattner said taxpayers could realize something "north of $40 billion" or "materially north of $40 billion" that the government has at risk in GM's common stock. But he said he believes the timing of the IPO is at the "early end" of the timeframe for such a deal involving GM. The timing presents challenges for the administration especially since sources have told Reuters the government is likely to take a loss in the first offering, following the usual IPO pricing pattern of giving initial investors a discount. "Does it (Treasury) get out quickly -- which has many, many benefits associated with it, but those may not include maximizing the value of it holdings?" Rattner asked. "Or does it wait a longer period of time and risk the stigma of government intervention for a longer period of time in the hope of getting more money?" One key question for GM and the Treasury is whether overseas investors will participate in the IPO, a potentially sensitive political scenario. China's top automaker SAIC Motor Corp has reached out to GM to explore the prospect of taking a stake. Treasury said last week the IPO would be open to a wide range of investors including overseas funds and US retail buyers. GM and its advisers plan to meet with sovereign wealth funds over the next few weeks to sound out their interest. Rattner said the sovereign wealth funds are politically sensitive, and he believes their participation would create some negative repercussions. "I can't imagine why they would want to get into the middle of a situation like that," Rattner said. "There are plenty of other places to put your money." Since Rattner stepped down as Obama's auto restructuring chief, the spotlight in New York has focused on scrutiny by state authorities and US regulators of a business deal from his days at the private equity firm he founded, Quadrangle Group LLC. Rattner said he does not anticipate returning to government service.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (66305)	9/21/2010 9:37:12 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218235

Carmaking unwiding: Geely may build as many as 3 Volvo plants in China * Geely may build as many as three Volvo plants in China * Final plan needs approval of Volvo board and Beijing (Adds Li's remarks on Volvo's China plants, background) BEIJING, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which last month completed its purchase of Volvo from Ford Motor Co (F.N), may build as many as three plants in China to make the Swedish brand, a Geely spokesman said on Tuesday. If it goes ahead as expected, the plan would give Zhejiang Geely a combined capacity to make 300,000 Volvo cars in China per year, Ning Shuyong told Reuters in a telephone interview. Possible locations of the three Volvo plants are the Jiading district on the outskirts of Shanghai, the southwestern city of Chengdu, and the northeastern city of Daqing, said Ning, adding that the final plan still needed the approval of Volvo's board and the Chinese government. Li Shufu, chairman and founder of privately held Zhejiang Geely, also told reporters in Hong Kong he is in no hurry regarding the final decision for Volvo's China plants.