Hedge Funds Capitulate in Chyrsler Debt Restructuring

Oppenheimer withdraws opposition to Chrysler plan, according to Reuters.

"Oppenheimer Funds was among the group of holdout creditors that own a combined $295 million of the automaker's $6.9 billion in distressed debt and which rejected a deal that offered them only 29 cents on the dollar."

There were about 20 such holders of Chrysler's senior secured debts when Judge Gonzalez started to hear the case on May 1. However,

"President Barack Obama called the dissenters "speculators" in public criticism for refusing to join Chrysler's biggest banks in a government-brokered deal to wipe out Chrysler's $6.9 billion debt and move forward with the Fiat alliance. "

So Mr. Rattner (car czar)'s eloquent persuasion has clearly worked.

Combine that with the bankruptcy judge's order on May 5 that all the names of the funds who oppose the debt restructuring are to be made public despite some death threats to the funds, and the fiduciary duty goes out the door quickly. Fiat gets the goods for practically nothing.

"More than half of the parties that had opposed Chrysler's plan have already dropped out of the group as public and political pressure grows to restructure the automaker quickly."

I wonder if Mr. Clifford S. Asness's fund is still opposing.

For all Chrysler bankruptcy related posts so far on this blog, click here.

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