GM Bankruptcy Advisers’ Fees Might Be ‘Bonanza’ $1.2 Billion

[Joanne98]

Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- A General Motors Corp. bankruptcy might yield a $1.2 billion “bonanza” for bankers, accountants and lawyers, surpassing record fees being made by advisers on the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

GM, trying to lower debt and wages out of court, said Dec. 2 it must slash $62 billion in liabilities by almost half, excluding government loans. Otherwise it may wind up like Lehman, which will pay an estimated $906 million in judge-approved charges for professional services, said Lynn LoPucki, who teaches bankruptcy law at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“The bonanza has already begun and will continue through the bankruptcy,” said LoPucki, who keeps a database of bankruptcy statistics. “GM is in serious financial difficulty and can’t make the cuts they need outside of bankruptcy because they can’t force creditors to go along with them.”

Law firms including Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, already advising the automaker, would be among those reaping millions in fees in a GM bankruptcy.

Investment bankers and restructuring experts at Morgan Stanley, Blackstone Group LP and Evercore Partners Inc. also have been counseling GM, and the UAW autoworkers union consults Lazard Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.

Tom Wilkinson, a GM spokesman, declined to comment on potential bankruptcy fees.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3lW8E3hvu7Q&refer=home

[barbtries]

1. as my boss often says

i shoulda been a lawyer. never mind that the fees are obscenely excessive.

[marmar]

2. Ah, the joys of living in a kleptocratic country.......

:eyes: