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Detroit Free PressWASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury has hired two law firms with extensive experience in bankruptcy to advise it on the restructuring of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.
The move highlights that bankruptcy remains a real possibility for both automakers despite $17.4 billion in government loans and an all-out push to write cost-cutting plans by a Feb. 17 deadline.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP in Chicago were both hired by the Treasury to advise on the automotive rescues, spokespeople for the two firms said today.
GM and Chrysler have both maintained that a bankruptcy would likely mean the dissolution of both companies, because a bankrupt automaker would be hard pressed to generate the cash needed to pay suppliers, build cars and finance dealers.
Yet experts and industry officials worry that Chrysler may not have the resources to survive a U.S. market of less than 10 million vehicles a year, while GM could be forced to bankruptcy court in order to win deep concessions from bondholders.
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http://www.freep.com/article/20090206/BUSINESS01/90206037/Treasury+hires+firms+to+advise+on+auto+plans