On June 1, 2009, General Motors Corporation (“GM”) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York (the “Court”). Pursuant to numerous first day motions filed by GM, the Court has entered various orders relating to the administration of this bankruptcy proceeding. Of particular significance to GM’s suppliers are the following:
1. Deadlines Relating to the Assumption of Supplier Contracts.
On April 16, General Growth Properties, Inc. and certain of its affiliates (“GGP”) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. GGP operates a national network of approximately 200 shopping centers. To the surprise of many, most of GGP’s property-specific SPE subsidiaries (“SPE Debtors”) also filed for bankruptcy.
Late Sunday night, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved the sale of most of Chrysler's assets to Italian Automaker Fiat S.p.A., as contemplated in the Master Transaction Agreement between the two companies.
General Motors and Affiliates File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection
On May 14, 2009, Judge Allan Gropper of the US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, approved a US$400 million DIP financing package in the US$27 billion General Growth Properties, Inc. (“GGP”) Chapter 11 case. Judge Gropper’s ruling also included approval of GGP’s proposal to use cash flow generated by shopping centers, structured by GGP as bankruptcy remote, special purpose entities, to fund GGP’s ongoing central operations while in bankruptcy.
Under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, a taxpayer does not recognize gain or loss on the exchange of like-kind property. Before 1984, the Code did not specifically address so-called deferred exchanges - exchanges in which the taxpayer relinquished property and some time later received the replacement property - although at least one leading case did. The 1984 rules require that the taxpayer identify the replacement property within 45 days after the disposition and close on the replacement property and close within 180 days after the disposition.
Visteon and Affiliates File for Bankruptcy Protection
Visteon Corporation and related affiliates (“Visteon”) filed voluntary bankruptcy petitions on May 28, 2009, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (“Bankruptcy Court”). Visteon intends to continue to operate its businesses while in bankruptcy. Although Visteon UK, Ltd., has already filed bankruptcy in Great Britain, it appears that Visteon’s other non-U.S. subsidiaries will not be filing separate proceedings and will not be part of Visteon’s U.S. bankruptcy proceeding.
As widely expected, GM and all of its domestic subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on June 1, 2009. Besides General Motors Corporation, the other three associated debtors are: Chevrolet-Saturn of Harlem, Inc., Saturn, LLC and Saturn Distribution Corporation. Please note that GMAC is not included in these bankruptcy filings.
In an unusual ruling recently entered in the Chapter 11 case of Yellowstone Mountain Club, LLC and certain of its subsidiaries, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Montana equitably subordinated the claim of a non-insider senior secured lender. While the equitable subordination of a claim is rare, the Yellowstone decision may signal that courts will be looking at loan transactions with a highly critical eye.