Supreme Court holds up Fiat / Chrysler plans

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The US Supreme Court has put a temporary halt on the sale of Chrysler to Fiat of Italy, which had been scheduled to go ahead yesterday afternoon.   At the same stroke, the Court has thumbed its nose at President ObamaÔÇÖs plans to restructure the US auto industry.   The Court granted a request to delay the sale while three Indiana state pension and construction funds pursue an appeal against it.   The Obama administration has strongly supported the sale of Chrysler to the Fiat-led consortium, and had called on the court to reject the request.   The court said the sale was "stayed pending further order," but did not say how long it expected to take to reach a conclusion on the appeal.   Under the proposed deal Fiat would emerge with management control and a 20 percent stake of Chrysler, while 68 percent would be owned by a union trust, with the two governments sharing 12 percent.   The pension funds argue that conventional bankruptcy practice is being unlawfully turned on its head by rewarding unsecured creditors, such as the union, ahead of secured lenders.   The government is concerned that if Fiat walks away from the deal it could lead to Chrysler going into liquidation.   Under the terms of the agreement, the deal should be completed by 15 June, but Fiat has said it intends to conclude the deal, even if it misses the deadline.   *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *