GM bankruptcy becomes nearly certain as offer to bondholders fails

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General Motors Corp.'s last-ditch, Hail Mary bid to avoid bankruptcy fell with a thud Wednesday as its bondholders overwhelmingly rejected a deal to swap their debt for equity in the company. That offer was a central element in the automaker's efforts -- guided by the federal government -- to restructure outside of court. Without it the company appears almost certain to file a Chapter 11 petition by Monday. GM bankruptcy becomes nearly certain as offer to bondholders fails http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-autos28-2009may28,0,1315196.story - Los Angeles Times With Chrysler already having sought bankruptcy protection, a GM filing would put two of the nation's top three automakers into bankruptcy, a sad testament to the industry's painful decline. It would also open a dramatically different epoch in GM's century-long history, one that would probably leave the federal government holding a majority position in the company, all but wipe out current shareholders, radically alter relations with GM's biggest union and leave American taxpayers with a substantially larger tab to clean up the mess.