Statement re: GM Plans to Amend Credit Facility
General Motors Announces Plans to Amend its Credit Facility
NEW YORK, June 20 -- General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) today announced its
plan to amend and extend its existing $5.6 billion unsecured revolving credit
facility. Under the proposed terms, all existing lenders will receive a 20
percent reduction in their commitments, and have the opportunity to extend to
2011 in return for collateral, pricing and other structural enhancements.
The amendment to the credit facility must be approved by lenders with
greater than 50 percent of the loan commitment under the existing facility.
GM has received formal indications that the majority of its lending bank
syndicate agreed to amend and extend. Lenders that do not consent will
maintain their commitment in the unsecured facility through 2008 and will not
receive collateral, pricing or other structural enhancements.
The proposed amendment will remove any existing uncertainty as to whether
the bank syndicate will be required to honor a borrowing request.
"GM values its long-standing relationships with its banks and believes
that these proposed changes to the facility will be beneficial for all
parties," said Walter Borst, GM treasurer. "The amended facility will further
strengthen GM's strong liquidity profile and will reposition this source of
capital from a standby facility to one that will be drawn on from time to time
to fund working capital and other needs."
Under the amended facility, borrowings from the extending lenders will be
limited to an amount based on the value of the underlying collateral.
Collateral will consist of certain North American accounts receivable and
inventory of General Motors Corp., Saturn Corp. and GM of Canada Ltd.; certain
plants, property and equipment of GM of Canada Ltd.; and a pledge of 65
percent of the stock of the holding company for GM's indirect subsidiary GM de
Mexico. All-in cost of borrowings from extending lenders will likely be in a
range of LIBOR (London InterBank Offered Rate) plus 200-225 basis points,
depending on final rating agency ratings. In addition, extending lenders will
receive a consent fee of 40 basis points.
GM anticipates that the amendment and extension of the existing credit
facility will be completed by the end of July. Completing the transaction,
however, is subject to final documentation and other conditions, so that there
can be no assurance as to the successful completion or the timing of the
transaction.
General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, has been the global
industry sales leader for 75 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about
327,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM
manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2005, more than 9
million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands:
Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac,
Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM operates one of the world's leading finance
companies, GMAC Financial Services, which offers automotive, residential and
commercial financing and insurance. More information on GM can be found at
www.gm.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
In this press release and in related comments by General Motors
management, the use of the words "anticipate," "intend," "seek," "may,"
"would," "could," "should," "believe," or the negative of any of those words
or similar expressions is intended to identify forward-looking statements that
represent our current judgment about possible future events. We believe these
judgments are reasonable, but they are not guarantees of any events or
financial results, and GM's actual results may differ materially due to a
variety of important factors. Among other items, these factors include: GM's
ability to obtain the consent of the percentage of lenders required to amend
and extend the existing credit facility on the proposed terms and within the
timeframe anticipated by management; the rate of interest payable on any
amounts borrowed under the amended credit facility, based upon final rating
agency actions; GM's ability to comply with the representations, warranties
and covenants contained in the amended credit facility; the final results of
investigations by the SEC; costs and risks associated with litigation; changes
in our accounting assumptions that may require or that result from changes in
the accounting rules or their application, which could result in an impact on
earnings; and changes in the existing, or the adoption of new laws,
regulations, policies or other activities of governments, agencies and similar
organizations. These factors may be revised or supplemented in future reports
by GM to the SEC on Form 10-K, 10-Q or 8-K.
We caution investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements by GM. Except where expressly required by law, GM undertakes no
obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or other
such factors that affect the subject of these statements.
SOURCE General Motors Corporation
-0- 06/20/2006 P
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional media information visit
http://media.gm.com .
CONTACT: Gina Proia, +1-212-418-6389, gina.proia@gm.com , or Toni
Simonetti, +1-212-418-6380, toni.simonetti@gm.com , both of General Motors
Corporation
Web site: http://media.gm.com
http://www.gm.com
(GM)
Latest directors dealings
- 19 minutes ago ASOS
- 46 minutes ago MJ Gleeson
- 48 minutes ago Rolls-Royce Holdings
- 1 hour ago Crest Nicholson Holdings
- 1 hour ago Naked Wines