News reports in the United States say General Motors will declare
bankruptcy Monday morning before U.S. financial markets open in New
York.
The reports, quoting anonymous sources, were posted Sunday after a
majority of GM bondholders said they would support a plan that would
give them a share of the restructured company if the troubled U.S. auto
giant declares bankruptcy.
An informal committee of large GM bondholders said slightly more than half of them (54 percent) agree to exchange their $27 billion in bonds for an ownership stake of up to 25 percent of any newly restructured company.
GM is facing a Monday deadline in the United States to restructure or
declare bankruptcy. The company has scheduled a Monday news conference
in New York. President Barack Obama will also hold a news conference
Monday to discuss his administration's effort to keep GM in business.
Mr. Obama has said the government bailout of GM was made necessary by the struggling U.S. economy.
The U.S. government has given both GM and number three U.S. carmaker,
Chrysler, billions of dollars to help them survive. In the event of a
GM bankruptcy, the U.S. government will own a large stake in the
company.
President Obama said he expects the government's stake in GM to be less than 72-percent.
Also Monday, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge is expected to rule on
whether a proposed merger with Italian carmaker Fiat and Chrysler can
move forward.