In re General Motors Corp.
| Decision Date | 05 July 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 09-50026 (REG).,09-50026 (REG). |
| Citation | 407 B.R. 463 |
| Parties | In re GENERAL MOTORS CORP., et at., Debtors. |
| Court | U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of New York |
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, by Harvey R. Miller (argued), Stephen Karotkin (argued), Joseph H. Smolinsky (argued), New York, NY, for Debtors and Debtors in Possession.
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, by Kenneth H. Eckstein (argued), Thomas Moers Mayer (argued), Robert Schmidt, Jeffrey S. Trachtman, New York, NY, for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
Lev L. Dassin, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, by David S. Jones (argued), Jeffrey S. Oestericher, Matthew L. Schwartz (argued), Joseph N. Cordaro, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, by John J. Rapisardi, New York, NY, Counsel to the United States of America.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, by James L. Bromley (argued), Avram E. Luft, Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP, by Babette A. Ceccotti (argued), New York, NY, for The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, AFL-CIO.
Patton Boggs LLP, by Michael P. Richman (argued), Mark A. Salzberg (pro hac vice) (argued), James C. Chadwick (pro hac vice), Melissa Iachan, New York, NY, for The Unofficial Committee Of Family & Dissident GM Bondholders.
The Coleman Law Firm, by Steve Jakubowski (argued), Elizabeth Richert, Chicago, IL, for Individual Tort Litigants Callan Campbell, Kevin Junso, Edwin Agosto, Kevin Chadwick, and Joseph Berlingieri.
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, by Barry E. Bressler (pro hac vice) (argued), Richard A. Barkasy (pro hac vice), Benjamin P. Deutsch. New York, NY, for Ad Hoc Committee of Consumer Victims of General Motors.
Stutzman, Bromberg, Esserman & Plifka P.C. by Sander L. Esserman (pro hac vice) (argued), Robert T. Brousseau (pro hac vice), Peter D'Apice, Jo E. Hartwick (pro hac vice), Dallas, TX, for Ad Hoc Committee of Asbestos Personal Injury Claimants.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, by Roger Frankel (argued), Richard H. Wyron, Washington, D.C., by Lorraine S. McGowen, Alyssa D. Englund, New York, NY, counsel to the Unofficial GM Dealers Committee.
Kennedy, Jennik & Murray, P.C., by Thomas M. Kennedy (argued), Susan M. Jennik, New York, NY, for IUE-CWA.
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, by Leslie C. Levy, Karen Cordry (argued), Lincoln, NE, for the State of Nebraska and on behalf of the Ad Hoc Committee of State Attorneys General.
Oliver Addison Parker, Lauderdale By The Sea, FL, pro se.
N.W. Bernstein & Associates, LLC, by: Norman W. Bernstein (argued), Rye Brook, NY, for the Trustees of Environmental Conservation and Chemical Corporation Site Trust Fund.
Caplin & Drysdale Chartered, by Elihu Inselbuch, Esq., Rita C. Tobin, Esq., New York, NY, by Peter Van N. Lockwood, Esq., Ronald E. Reinsel, Esq. (pro hac vice) (argued), Washington, D.C., for Mark Buttita, personal representative of Salvatore Buttita.
Vedder Price P.C., by Michael J. Edelman, Michael L. Schein (argued), Erin Zavalkoff-Babej, New York, NY, for Export Development Canada.
Robinson Brog Leinwand Greene, Genovese & Cluck, P.C., by Russell P. McRory (argued), Fred B. Ringel, Mitchell Greene, Robert R. Leinwand, New York, NY, and Myers & Fuller P.A., by Richard Sox (pro hac vice), Shawn Mercer (pro hac vice), Robert Byerts (pro hac vice), Tallahassee, FL, for the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, by David Feldman (argued), Matthew J. Williams, Adam H. Offenhartz, New York, NY, for Wilmington Trust Company, Indenture Trustee.
Kelley, Drye & Warren LLP, by David E. Retter, Pamela Bruzzese-Szczygiel, Jennifer A. Christian (argued), New York, NY, for Law Debenture Trust Company of New York, as Proposed Successor Indenture Trustee.
New York State Department of Law by Susan Taylor (argued). Albany, NY, for Environmental Protection Bureau.
Levy Ratner, P.C., New York, NY, by Suzanne Hepner, for United Steelworkers.
Gorlick Kravitz & Listhaus P.C., by Barbara Mehlsack, New York, NY, for International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 18S, 101S, and 832S.
Farella Braun & Martel LLP, by Neil A. Goteiner (argued), Dean M. Gloster (pro hac vice), Nan E. Joesten (pro hac vice), San Francisco, CA, for General Motors Retirees Association.
Public Citizen Litigation Group, by Adina H. Rosenbaum, Allison M. Zieve, Washington, DC, for Center for Auto Safety, Consumer Action, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, National Association of Consumer Advocates, and Public Citizen.
Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen, P.C., by Jonathan N. Helfat, Steven B. Soll, New York, NY, for GMAC LLC.
Attorneys for the State of Texas, by J. Casey Roy (argued), Austin, TX, on behalf of the Texas Dep't of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division.
Diana G. Adams, by Diana G. Adams, Linda A. Riffkin, Tracy Hope Davis, Andrew D. Velez-Rivera, Brian Shoichi Masumoto, New York, NY, United States Trustee.
DECISION ON DEBTORS' MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF (1) SALE OF ASSETS TO VEHICLE ACQUISITION HOLDINGS LLC; (2) ASSUMPTION AND ASSIGNMENT OF RELATED EXECUTORY CONTRACTS; AND (3) ENTRY INTO UAW RETIREE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
In this contested matter in the jointly administered chapter 11 cases of Debtors General Motors Corporation and certain of its subsidiaries (together, "GM"), the Debtors move for an order, pursuant to section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, approving GM's sale of the bulk of its assets (the "363 Transaction"), pursuant to a "Master Sale and Purchase Agreement" and related documents (the "MPA"), to Vehicle Acquisitions Holdings LLC (the "Purchaser")2—a purchaser sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the "U.S. Treasury")—free and clear of liens, claims, encumbrances, and other interests. The Debtors also seek approval of the assumption and assignment of the executory contracts that would be needed by the Purchaser, and of a settlement with the United Auto Workers ("UAW") pursuant to an agreement (the "UAW Settlement Agreement") under which GM would satisfy obligations to an estimated 500,000 retirees.
GM's motion is supported by the Creditors' Committee;...
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