Bob Moore Cadillac-Hummer-Saab

10/09/0910:31 AM by Zach Gale

General Motors has just confirmed that it has entered a "definitive agreement" with China's Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. to sell Hummer. While the details of the agreement are still officially under wraps, one source cited by Bloomberg said the deal carries a price tag of $150 million.

For a large automaker like GM, $150 million is anything but a Hummer-sized amount for the brand, but given the obstacles already faced in the negotiations process, the automaker probably wants out at any cost.

GM will continue to make H2s and H3s for Hummer until June 2011, at which point Tengzhong is on its own unless it takes the optional one-year production extension through June 2012. Continuing production of these vehicles, GM says, will save 3000 jobs. What happens after June 2011, though, is unclear.

Just last summer, GM CEO Fritz Henderson said selling Hummer should translate to about "$500 million or more."

In August, Hummer CEO Jim Taylor discussed the brand's long-term plans, depending on future funding. An updated full-size H2 could reach dealers in two years at the very soonest while a diesel H3 is in the cards but, at this point, not for the U.S. market. Then there's the possibility of a smaller H4 model or additional H3 variant. Right now, it's unclear whether such a model will ever see the light of a dealer showroom.

Tengzhong doesn't have much experience in the automotive industry, so we're really looking forward to seeing how it manages a high-profile brand like Hummer.

Source: GM, Motor Trend, Automotive News (Subscription required)

GM Said to Be Close to Agreement on Sale of Hummer to Chinese

By Bloomberg News

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co. may sign an agreement for the sale of the Hummer sport-utility vehicle business to a Chinese machinery maker this week, said two people familiar with negotiations.

Executives from prospective buyer Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. based in Chengdu, China, are expected to arrive in Detroit early this week for more negotiations with GM, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks aren't public. An agreement could be signed and announced during the trip, one of the people said. It will be subject to U.S. and Chinese regulatory approval before it will take effect.

GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson is working to dispose of half of the automaker's U.S. brands so the carmaker can focus on the four that remain. The company is eliminating the Pontiac brand, and deals are pending to sell its Saab brand to Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Automotive AB and Saturn to Penske Automotive Group Inc.

"Since early June, when GM announced that it reached a memorandum of understanding with Tengzhong for the potential sale of the Hummer brand, the parties have been in frequent discussions working closely to finalize a definitive agreement," GM said in an e-mailed statement attributed to Hummer CEO Jim Taylor. "Negotiations continue to progress and the transaction will be announced upon the signing of the definitive agreement as soon as appropriate."

GM won't provide further specifics until the agreement is completed, the statement said.

"We are working through a process, we've been in frequent discussion to finalize a definitive agreement which will be announced as soon as appropriate," said Tim Payne, a spokesman for Tengzhong.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding for the sale of Hummer in June.

No Government Roadblocks

Regulators have not indicated any problems with the deal, the people said. The BBC reported in June, citing China National Radio, that the National Development and Reform Commission would block the sale on environmental grounds and because Tengzhong lacks expertise in passenger-car production.

The Ministry of Commerce has reached a consensus internally to approve the deal, the National Business Daily reported citing an unidentified ministry officer.

GM has said it is working with both governments to make sure they understand the deal and the benefits to all parties.

The Hummer division will remain based in the U.S., and is considering several U.S. locations for a headquarters, including the Detroit or Nashville areas, Taylor, 52, said in a June interview.

Separating from Detroit-based GM means Hummer must create corporate offices as it prepares to start building SUVs under Tengzhong's ownership. Tengzhong would take on Hummer's dealer accords and senior management.

Hummer will have 100 or fewer corporate employees and contract with GM for manufacturing, Taylor said. The sale will protect more than 3,000 U.S. jobs, the companies have said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katie Merx in Southfield, Michigan, at kmerx@bloomberg.net; Stephanie Wong in Shanghai at swong139@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 23, 2009 23:12 EDT

Automaker also reports potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands

The Associated Press
updated 4:20 p.m. CT, Tues., June 2, 2009

NEW YORK - General Motors Corp. took a key step toward its downsizing on Tuesday, striking a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese manufacturer, while also revealing that it has potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands.

China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. said Tuesday afternoon that it reached an agreement to acquire the brand from GM for an undisclosed ammount. The Detroit automaker had announced Tuesday morning that it had a memorandum of understanding to sell the brand of rugged SUVs, but it didn't identify the buyer.

Sichuan Tengzhong deals in road construction, plastics, resins and other industrial products, but Hummer would be its first step into the automotive business.

GM said the sale will likely save more than 3,000 U.S. jobs in manufacturing, engineering and at various Hummer dealerships. Tengzhong said it will assume GM's existing agreements with Hummer dealers.

"We will be investing in the Hummer brand and its research and development capabilities, which will allow Hummer to better meet demand for new products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S," Chief Executive Yang Yi said in a statement.

As part of the proposed transaction, Hummer will continue to contract vehicle manufacturing and business services from GM during a transitional period. For example, GM's Shreveport, La., assembly plant would continue to contract to assemble the H3 and H3T through at least 2010, GM said. AM General LLC in Mishawaka, Ind., makes the larger H2 under contract for GM.

Hummer will keep its existing management team and remain based in the United States, the companies said. Tengzhong said it expects to expand the brand's dealer network worldwide, including to China.

"GM is close to a sale of its Hummer brand, which is good news for the 3,000 Americans who will be able to keep their jobs, the two American plants that will remain open and the more than 100 Hummer dealers that should be able to stay in business all around the country," White House spokesman Bill Burton said earlier in the day.

On Monday, the Shreveport plant, which has about 800 workers, escaped being among 12 plants that GM said would be shut down by next year. The plant, which employed 3,000 several years ago, also produces Chevrolet and GMC pickups.

Johnny Bell, 59, who has worked at GM for 28 years, said many workers are still concerned about the plant's long-term future.

"Good news is good news, but we want all the news," he said. "We're concerned about what happens after 2010."

Morgan Johnson, head of the United Auto Workers local at the plant, said GM indicated to the union that pickup assembly would continue in Shreveport through 2012.

"We're just happy that the doors are still open considering all the plant closings," said Sharon Brock, 52, who has worked at the sprawling plant for 26 years.

GM also said Tuesday that it has 16 buyers interested in purchasing its Saturn brand, while three parties are interested in the Swedish Saab brand.

Chief Financial Officer Ray Young told reporters and industry analysts on a conference call that GM is continuing to pursue manufacturing agreements with a new Saturn buyer.

GM would like to sell the money-losing Saturn brand's dealership network, contracting with the new buyer to make some of its cars while the buyer gets other vehicles from different manufacturers.

At the same time, bridge loan discussions with the Swedish government are progressing, Young said.

GM, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Monday, is racing to remake itself as a smaller, leaner automaker. In addition to its plan to sell the Hummer, Saab and Saturn brands, GM will also phase out its Pontiac brand, concentrating on its Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC nameplates.

The company hopes to follow the lead of fellow U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC by transforming its most profitable assets into a new company in just 30 days and emerging from bankruptcy protection soon after.

But GM is much larger and complex than its Auburn Hills-based rival and isn't up against Chrysler's tight June 15 deadline to close its deal with Fiat Group SpA.

Sharon Lindstrom, managing director at business consulting firm Protiviti, said the companies pose different challenges. But as with Chrysler, she notes that the Treasury Department made sure many of GM's moving parts were in order ahead of time so a quick bankruptcy reorganization might be possible.

"They had a lot of their ducks in a row because the terms of the government financing forced them to get all the parties to the table in a very, very short period of time," Lindstrom said.

Separately, the German government said Tuesday it paid out the first euro300 million ($425 million) in bridge loans to GM's Adam Opel GmbH division. The loans are part of a deal to shrink GM's stake in Opel and shield it from GM's bankruptcy protection filing in the U.S.

Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. and Russian-owned Sberbank will acquire 55 percent of Opel.

A sale of the Hummer brand had been expected. Chief Executive Fritz Henderson had said in April that the automaker was expecting final bids from three potential buyers within the month.

Eric Lane, vice president of Baton Rouge, La.-based Gerry Lane Enterprises, which has four dealerships - including one offering Hummers - welcomed the sale.

Lane said a lack of new products and the recession figured into the Hummer equation much more than last year's runup in gasoline prices. "I haven't had a single owner complain about mileage. Nobody buys a Hummer because of the gas. You don't buy a vehicle for $60,000 and worry about the price of gas."

Critics had seized on the rugged but fuel-inefficient Hummer as a symbol of excess as GM's financial troubles grew and gas prices rose. Sales at Hummer, which is known for models with military-vehicle roots, have been in a steep slide since gasoline prices rose to record heights last summer. For the first five months of this year, Hummer sales are down 64 percent.

GM nailed down deals with its union and a majority of its bondholders and arranged the Opel deal in order to appear in court Monday with a near-complete plan to quickly emerge with a chance to become profitable.

The government has said it expects GM to come out of bankruptcy protection within 60 to 90 days. By comparison, the judge overseeing Chrysler's case approved the sale of its assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat in just over a month. Some industry observers think Chrysler could emerge as early as this week.

During Monday's hearing, GM attorney Harvey Miller stressed the magnitude of the case and the importance of moving GM through court oversight as fast as possible. He noted that the automaker only has about $2 billion in cash left.

"If there's going to be a recovery of value, it's absolutely crucial that a sale take place as soon as possible," Miller said in his opening statement.

The automaker wants to sell the bulk of its assets to a new company in which the U.S. government will take a 60 percent ownership stake. The Canadian government would take 12.5 percent of the "New GM," with the United Auto Workers union getting 17.5 percent and unsecured bondholders receiving 10 percent. Existing shareholders are expected to be wiped out.

U.S. Judge Robert Gerber moved swiftly through more than 25 mostly procedural motions during the automaker's first-day Chapter 11 hearing.

Gerber set GM's sale hearing for June 30, putting it on a path similar to that of Chrysler. Objections are due on June 19, with any competing bids required to be submitted by June 22.

Gerber also gave GM immediate access to $15 billion in government financing to get it through the next few weeks, and interim approval for use of a total $33.3 billion in financing, with final approval slated to be ruled on June 25. The funds are contingent on GM's sale being approved by July 10. Gerber also approved motions allowing the company to pay certain prebankruptcy wages, along with supplier and shipping costs.

The sheer size of GM makes it a more complicated case than Chrysler.

GM made twice as many vehicles as Chrysler's 1.5 million last year and employs 235,000 people compared with Chrysler's 54,000. GM also has plants and operations in many more countries, meaning it will likely have to strike separate deals to navigate the bankruptcy laws of those places.

Henderson said GM has learned a few things by watching Chrysler's case.

"Certainly the court showed that it can address 363 (sale) transactions in an expeditious fashion," Henderson said at a news conference Monday. "Particularly in our case with what will be a very large 363 transaction."

GM's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is the largest ever for an industrial company. GM, which said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets, had received about $20 billion in low-interest loans before entering bankruptcy protection.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31059625/

© 2009 MSNBC.com