- High Court Asked to Delay Fiat Deal
- Palm Pre Sells Out as Sprint Customers Line Up for Thin Stock
- Gas prices above $2.60
- Ford to Face Tougher Rivals Following U.S. Rescue
- Chrysler dealers scramble to unload vehicles
- Chrysler Legal Releases for Officers Opposed By U.S.
- Bank of America Stocks Board With Ex-Regulators, Former Bankers
- Penske ‘a Good Home’ for Saturn as GM Shrinks in Bankruptcy
- Filene’s Basement Sold to Men’s Wearhouse Affiliate for $62 Mln
- Weinstein Company Takes Step to Ease Debt
High Court Asked to Delay Fiat Deal - Wall Street Journal
Late Saturday, a group of Indiana pension funds opposed to the sale of Chrysler LLC to Italy’s Fiat SpA asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put the deal on hold while they continue their attempts to block it.
The emergency stay request came after the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York approved the acquisition of most of Chrysler’s assets by Fiat. The sale, which is the cornerstone of Chrysler’s Chapter 11 reorganization, was approved last week by a U.S. bankruptcy judge.
The stay asks for the extension of a temporary hold put in place by the appeals court until Monday at 4 p.m. EDT or when the high court decides whether to intervene…..
Palm Pre Sells Out as Sprint Customers Line Up for Thin Stock – Bloomberg
Palm Inc.’s Pre sold out within hours at some stores after Sprint Nextel Corp. released the touch- screen phone yesterday, as pent up demand from months of waiting met with limited supplies.
Some Best Buy stores reported having as few as three phones on hand. Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst at Wachovia Securities Inc., said Chicago-area Sprint stores received 30 to 50 of the devices, and some locations expected new shipments by June 10….
Gas prices above $2.60 – CNNMoney
Gas prices continue to surge nationwide, and are now up more than 27% in the past seven and a half weeks.
The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline rose 1.4 cents Saturday to $2.606, according to motorist group AAA. This is the thirty-ninth consecutive daily increase in the price of gas. In just the past week, prices have increased nearly 5%.
Prices were highest in the state of Michigan, at $2.92 a gallon, AAA reported. They were cheapest in South Carolina, at an average of $2.391 a gallon….
Ford to Face Tougher Rivals Following U.S. Rescue – Wall Street Journal
Ford Motor Co. is the healthiest of the Detroit’s Big Three auto makers but could face a rough ride facing off with its newest competitor: the U.S. government.
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC are in line to get $62 billion in investments from the Treasury Department.
As a result, the pair are expected to cut their debt and shrink their dealership networks, which will make them leaner competitors once they emerge from bankruptcy-court protection…..
Chrysler dealers scramble to unload vehicles – AP
…..But on Tuesday, Walsh Dodge will lose that shingle — as will 788 other dealers across the country. Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler has asked a bankruptcy court for permission to terminate the franchise agreements of about 25 percent of its dealers. Chrysler needs to cut costs, and claims current sales levels don’t justify a network of 3,189 dealers.
For Walsh and the others on the “hit list,” the last days of selling Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler vehicles have been filled with quick sales at deep discounts, along with sad goodbyes from longtime customers and feelings of dismay and anger toward the automaker they worked with for years…..
Chrysler Legal Releases for Officers Opposed By U.S. – Bloomberg
Chrysler LLC’s bid to release its officers and directors from all lawsuits is opposed by the U.S. Trustee, an arm of the Department of Justice that oversees bankruptcies.
Diana Adams, acting U.S. Trustee, said the release of the company’s directors and officers from all litigation, damage claims, and other suits shouldn’t be allowed, according to court documents filed in Manhattan bankruptcy court today. Chrysler had asked to “release” current officers and directors as part of a motion to appoint a new board and supply it with directors and officers insurance……
Daimler Chief Sees Signs of Luxury-Car Market Rebound – Bloomberg
Daimler AG, the world’s second- biggest maker of luxury cars, said the market for its models may recover as early as the end of the year, boosted by more optimistic consumer sentiment.
An “improved mood” may already be developing among high- end auto buyers that may help luxury-car sales recover faster than the volume-car market, Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said today in an interview at a business conference in St. Petersburg, Russia……
Bank of America Stocks Board With Ex-Regulators, Former Bankers – Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. named two ex- regulators and two former bankers as directors, remaking the board five weeks after shareholders ousted Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis as chairman.
The bank, recipient of a $45 billion government infusion, is revamping a board that lost two other members in the past two weeks. Among them was lead director O. Temple Sloan, who had defended Lewis against attempts to force him out for failing to disclose mounting losses at Merrill Lynch & Co. before the lender took it over this year…..
Penske ‘a Good Home’ for Saturn as GM Shrinks in Bankruptcy – Bloomberg
Penske Automotive Group Inc., the car-dealer chain led by racing-team owner Roger Penske, won the bidding for General Motors Corp.’s Saturn unit as the biggest U.S. automaker sheds assets in bankruptcy.
The sale will save 13,000 jobs and 350 dealers “in the near term,” said Detroit-based GM, which like Penske Auto wouldn’t detail the terms. The price will be $100 million to $200 million, said a person familiar with the talks, who declined to be identified because the deal isn’t complete…..
Filene’s Basement Sold to Men’s Wearhouse Affiliate for $62 Mln – Bloomberg
Filene’s Basement Inc., the clothing chain that sought bankruptcy protection last month, will be sold for $62 million to an affiliate of Men’s Wearhouse Inc., the Houston-based apparel retailer, a lawyer for Filene’s said.
“They agreed to take at least 17 of 20 leases, the headquarters in Boston, the inventory and a distribution center and the trade name,” company attorney Laura Davis Jones said in an interview yesterday…..
Weinstein Company Takes Step to Ease Debt - NY Times
…Now, Mr. Weinstein and his business partners are scrambling to reinvent something else: the Weinstein Company….
Last week, The Wall Street Journal and others reported that the privately owned Weinstein Company had hired Miller Buckfire, a financial consultant based in New York, to help restructure its finances. Those are built around some $700 million in lending arrangements and $490 million in equity contributed by investors that include Goldman Sachs, the French television broadcaster TF1 and the advertising company WPP Group.
In a statement, the Weinstein Company said it expected to grow, rather than diminish, with help from Miller Buckfire. ….
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