Monday, July 26, 2010

General Motors: "Fitch says its head will essplode"

From naked capitalism:
GM, with $75 bn in cash in reserves, bought AmeriCredit, a small subprime lender,  in an all cash deal for $3.5 bn. GM is also currently in bankruptcy.

AmeriCredit, which is rated BB by Fitch, was put on watch by Fitch, after the deal announcement.
Fitch is unsure whether the deal will help or hurt the debt rating of AmeriCredit.

A giant, though bankrupt, company, that is effectively a ward of the state, with an upcoming IPO being steered by US Treasury, is buying a tiny subprime lender for all cash – and Fitch says it can’t tell which is the good company and which is the bad.

That is the current state of finance, rating agencies and Treasury department machinations, in a nutshell.
The officers of AmeriCredit probably don’t care either way though, because they all just got cashed out.