BREAKING: Supreme Court stays sale of Chrysler to Fiat
by Damon Lavrinc on Jun 8th 2009 at 4:26PM 
The sale of Chrysler's assets to Fiat have been delayed by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after three Indiana state pension funds lost their case in New York and filed papers with the highest court the land. Early reports indicate that this is only a temporary stay, with Ginsburg saying the sale is "stayed pending further order." Chrysler's lawyers have said the stay could cause the deal with Fiat to go under.
[Source: Freep]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sea Urchin 4:30PM (6/08/2009)
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg????, once the full court gets to vote on this the deal will be stopped.
I for one think that deal should go thru, but SC should allow parties that suffered damage to sue the perpetrates, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT for money lost as well as punitive damages.
Reply
Cornelius 5:17PM (6/08/2009)
Ginsberg is the last SC justice I'd expect to see throwing wrenches into Obama's deals. Wow!
zamafir 5:22PM (6/08/2009)
Um why? it's not the fed's fault chrsyler ran themselves into the ground. if they hadn't stepped in, chrsyler would be gone by now. Unless you, like our other commenter’s in the Gm thread, know of some magical mystical funding option for Chrysler that would have prevented them from imploding, not yet reveled to anyone for mysterious reasons.
gerrrg 5:26PM (6/08/2009)
This does not mean that the Supreme Court will accept the case.
Sea Urchin 5:42PM (6/08/2009)
Corn, i know, she IS the most liberal justice on the court
polo 8:56PM (6/08/2009)
No surprise. Ginsburg is affiliated with the states involved in this, it was already expected that she, if anyone, would be the one to take a look at this. That said, the SC will not allow a major employer like Chrysler to liquidate simply to appease a few creditors, that is NOT the precedent they're interested in setting.
Greg Aryous 4:32PM (6/08/2009)
Pres Obama just got his first "spanking" by the Supreme court... good! This deal was going to quick and was avoiding "due process of law for the secured bond holders". Watch GM's bondholders file the same motion... UAW is about to get screwed... good!!
Reply
Frank 4:45PM (6/08/2009)
Maybe so, but won't fans of GM and Chrysler (yes there are some still) get screwed even more if this cause one or both companies to go C7? Or will the feds cough up more money to the bandholders to buy them off?
Sea Urchin 4:55PM (6/08/2009)
I think Gov will buy out the bondholders, they do not need to buy out everyone, because banks that got bailout agreed to go to CH11, because they are on bailout they will not go back and ask for liquidation. Government will just have to buy out few who oppose.
KT 6:58PM (6/08/2009)
Oh, it's a lock that something like this will happen in the GM deal. They think this will be a quickie but I have a feeling it's going to get messy. I bet it's Dec or early '10 before GM's deal is finished.
I3ziko 4:43PM (6/08/2009)
bye bye Fiat 500
Reply
Aznauto 4:53PM (6/08/2009)
what's so great about it Daewoo, Kia, Hyundai, Tata, Suzuki all have better sub compacts than Fiat 500?
Kumar 4:52PM (6/08/2009)
No worries. If the Chrysler deal falls through, you'll see a Saturn 500 in 18 months. ;)
Bloke 4:54PM (6/08/2009)
"what's so great about it Daewoo, Kia, Hyundai, Tata, Suzuki all have better sub compacts than Fiat 500?"
Some people talk out of their backsides - the 500 has excellent chassis dynamics as well as brilliant engine units.
Rich 5:23PM (6/08/2009)
Aznauto: evidently you have a vested interest in posting that opinion, because the Fiat 500 is far better than anything from those manufacturers at any size. Sheesh, even the old wedge-shaped Cinquecento was better!
Swede 6:26PM (6/08/2009)
Aznauto: No. They do not have any competitors that come close to the 500.
JN 5:04PM (6/08/2009)
Hold on, guys. You forget, it was the Indiana treasurer's fault for being so damned stupid to buy Chrysler bonds in the first place. There's no reason to reward his stupidity.
Reply
Andre 4:44PM (6/08/2009)
I'm I missing something? If Chrysler was to go under would not these pension funds holders receive zippo? Compare to getting at least something back with the Fiat deal?
Reply
geo.stewart 4:50PM (6/08/2009)
they would be paid off of the proceeds of the liquidation sale. small % of actual value but the gamble is that it would be better than what they paid for the bonds.
While some think its a vulture-like approach, fact is that its perfectly legal and acceptable to buy the bonds in hopes of doing better if the company goes C7. If it doesnt, then they still can do all right. The only gamble is supposed to be how much money is raised during liquidation, not whether a heavy handed government throws out the rulebook.
British_Rover 4:54PM (6/08/2009)
Perhaps but not if they own Credit Default Swaps insuring the Chrysler Bonds they own. They could make out much, much better if Chrysler goes under as they would get the full value of their Bonds back minus some sort of deductible.
FYI if they do own Chrysler bonds that have a Credit Default insurance on them the policy is probably through AIG so they would collect the money from the Feds in a roundabout way.