Old G.M. Being Sold for Parts
Old G.M. Being Sold for PartsA Revitalized G.M. Eliminates Its Old Assets
By PETER LATTMAN and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED
Published: August 31, 2010
The new General Motors appears to be thriving.
Having emerged from bankruptcy, the revitalized company has recently reported $1.3 billion in quarterly earnings, paraded out a new chief executive and filed an initial public offering that seeks to pay back a portion of its approximately $60 billion in government loans.
But the old G.M. — a grim collection of shuttered auto plants, vacant office space and toxic industrial sites — is one step closer to extinction.
The fate that awaits the old G.M., officially the Motors Liquidation Company, the entity that houses the unwanted assets that were cleaved off in General Motors’ bankruptcy, was spelled out in its reorganization plan filed late Tuesday in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan.
The complex plan splits the old G.M. into four trusts, including one financed by $536 million in existing loans from the federal government that will go toward cleaning up auto plants and other properties still owned by Motors Liquidation. The trust will work with 14 states and the Environmental Protection Agency to provide cleanup money to these sites. Another $300 million is earmarked for property taxes, plant security and other expenses.