Chrysler Appears Hours Away From Fiat Sale Ruling

Chrysler could be hours away from a ruling on its plan to sell most of the company to a group led by Italy's Fiat Group SpA, a big step toward its goal of a speedy exit from bankruptcy protection.

Closing statements on the sale began in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Friday afternoon, marking the third day of hearings on the proposed deal.

Judge Arthur Gonzalez is expected to approve the sale Friday, but it's likely that attorneys for three Indiana state pension and construction funds will appeal the decision and possibly force Chrysler to postpone the deal's closing.

Chrysler claims that any delay could push Fiat to back out if the deal, since it's set a deadline of June 15 to wrap up a transaction.

If the sale ultimately goes through, the automaker could emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection within weeks, defying observers who said that the company could linger under court oversight for years.

Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 April 30.

Under that section of the bankruptcy code, companies are freed from the threat of creditors' lawsuits while restructuring their finances. They continue to run and, unlike Chapter 7, don't end up liquidating their assets.

Attorneys for the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker say that with the help of Fiat and its technology, a leaner Chrysler could shift more easily to building smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.

The Indiana funds are fighting the sale, saying that as secured lenders they shouldn't be forced to take such a large loss on their investment and deserve more. The funds hold $42.5 million, or about 1 percent, of Chrysler's total $6.9 billion in secured debt. They bought the debt in July 2008 for 43 cents on the dollar.

In the days leading up to Chrysler's filing for bankruptcy protection, most of the bondholders agreed to a deal that would give them a combined $2 billion to erase the debt, but some of them balked and the deal fell through, forcing the company into a reorganziation in bankruptcy court.

Like the funds, many Chrysler dealers, bondholders and former employees have filed objections to the sale and say they are being steamrolled by the exceptionally quick bankruptcy court proceedings.

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Friday's court hearings got going with testimony from a trio of Chrysler dealers slated to lose their franchises as part of Chrysler's restructuring. Chrysler wants court approval to terminate the franchises of about 789 of its dealers, calling it a needed cost-cutting measure.

The hearings followed two marathon court sessions including a Thursday hearing that went until almost midnight.

Richard Mealey, president of Birmingham Chrysler Jeep in Troy, Mich., said that if the judge approves the termination of the dealer franchises, he expects to layoff most of his 89 employees at the end of next week, with the rest staying on to keep the body shop open and help wind down the rest of the business.

"We feel totally rejected, dejected and very, very concerned about the future," Mealey said.

Meanwhile, Chrysler has suspended operations indefinitely at all five of its Mexican plants, including two car assembly factories, as the company tries to emerge from bankruptcy.

The shutdown began about two weeks ago and there are no plans yet for restarting, Manuel Duarte, Chrysler's spokesman in Mexico, said on Friday.

Chrysler idled its manufacturing plants in the United States on May 1 after filing for bankruptcy a day earlier.

Mexico is one of the world's top auto producing countries and an industrial powerhouse. The U.S. recession is slamming its economy as Americans cut back on everything from cars to refrigerators.

The Mexican economy shrank 8.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier and the government expects a contraction of about 5.5 percent during the whole year.

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