Area Development
The U.S. Treasury Department is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Chrysler LLC that could come next week, according to a report in The New York Times. The Times cites a source with direct knowledge of the action who says that Treasury has an agreement in principle with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union to protect members' pensions and retiree health benefits as a condition of the bankruptcy. The plan also calls for Fiat to complete its alliance with Chrysler while the company is under bankruptcy protection. Still unresolved is the question of what happens to Chrysler's lenders, who hold $6.9 billion in company debt. An offer presented by the government yesterday offers approximately 22 cents on the dollar and a 5 percent stake in the reorganized company, but this offer is far from the 65 cents on the dollar and 40 percent that the lenders have proposed. Chrysler officials have not commented on the report. The company's deadline for restructuring and forming an alliance with Fiat is April 30.