THE MDC-T yesterday asked Sadc to convene an urgent extraordinary summit to deal with what it sees as the “outstanding” issues in the Global Political Agreement, principally the positions of Reserve Bank governor and Attorney-General.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

A human rights group in Chad has reported rape and other assaults have been taking place at a refugee camp in Chad and also in Darfur.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

Sunday was the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures hitting 26.9C on the south coast, the BBC weather centre has said.The Solent in Hampshire recorded the top temperature, while London re…

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

Muslims should not use weapons of mass destruction and have them only as a deterrent, Egypt’s Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa says.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

Two days to the official end of Professor Chukwuma Soludo’s tenure as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is expected to formally submit Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s name to the Senate today as the governor-designate.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

The Governments of Rwanda and South Korea yesterday signed an agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investors on both sides, in a bid to support investment in the two countries.

More: continued here
Powered by SmartRSS

Popularity: unranked [?]

Filed under: Government/Legal, GM, Earnings/Financials

General Motors’ bankruptcy endgame appears to be at hand, with word coming out that the automaker will indeed file for Chapter 11 protection early on Monday morning, which in turn is expected to trigger $30.1 billion in U.S. government loans. That funding will arrive on the heels of the $19.4 billion GM has already received since late last year, and Canada is expected to chip in an additional $9.5 billion. In exchange for that $30.1 billion in financing, Capitol Hill will receive a 60% share of GM, while Canada’s investment will reportedly net it a 12% stake.

In related news, Automotive News is reporting that GM will appoint Al Koch to a newly created chief restructuring officer post. Koch, a corporate turnaround expert, has already been working with GM since January through his advisory firm, AlixPartners LLP. According to AN, Koch will oversee “bad” GM – that is, the liquidation of assets deemed to be dead weight in the drive to a leaner, more competitive GM (think: Hummer, Saturn, Saab, etc.). Recently minted GM CEO, Fritz Henderson, will continue to lead the corporation and, of course, all warranties will continue to be honored.

As part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, GM will see its stock-trading ticker removed from the Dow and S&P 500 on Monday, with those who have still been stubbornly holding on to stocks effectively losing everything.

President Obama will address the nation on GM’s historic bankruptcy beginning at 11:55 a.m. EDT, with Fritz Henderson slated to address media members at around 12:15 p.m. in New York.

[Source: AutomotiveNews - subs. req. | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

REPORT: GM to declare bankruptcy before markets open, chief restructuring officer named originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 31 May 2009 23:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

US military officials confirm 22 service personnel were killed in Iraq in May, the highest total since last September.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

A tax row is threatening to delay the Bujagali hydropower project, seen as crucial in solving the acute power shortage in the country.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Earnings/Financials

To the roll call of auto industry titans that have gone or are going bankrupt — Visteon, Chrysler, GM, Saab, Karmann, ASC, Source Interlink — we can now add Tier 1 supplier Metaldyne, which filed for bankruptcy for its American operations. Metaldyne makes metal bits for car and truck chassis and NVH components.

The company has been restructuring its costs over the past year and a half, shedding $100 million in expenditures and reducing its debt. Still, as of the filing it had debt of $600 million on $2008 sales of $1.57 billion. Metaldyne’s parent company, Asahi Tech Corp in Japan, helped the company lower its debt by about $400 million but has now walked away from further financial support.

There are two private equity firms interested in the company: Carlyle Group, which is looking to buy some of Metaldyne’s chassis business, and RHJI, which is already a majority shareholder in Metaldyne’s parent, Asahi. RHJI would throw about $100 million at the company and inject additional cash to run the business short term, as well as take on additional liabilities. Until (and if ever) a buyer is decided, Metaldyne is running on $18.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Deutsche Bank and customer funding.

[Source: Forbes]

Tier-1 supplier Metaldyne files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy too originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 31 May 2009 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]