The German government called the loan when it became clear that German jobs would not be overly protected in a GM reorganization.
General Motors has returned to German taxpayers another €200 million ($299.3 million) on the Opel bridge loan that was made last spring when it was planning on selling its loss making European arm.
GM has since decided to reorganize Opel by itself, and the German government called the loan when it became clear that German jobs would not be overly protected compared with other Opel/Vauxhaul locations in the United Kingdom and Europe.
GM now has an outstanding balance of €400 million, which GM expects to pay back by November 30,” according to Enrico Digirolamo, GM Europe Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
With production restarted after its 60-day bankruptcy proceeding, GM is once again generating cash and paying down some of its debt.
With the Opel bridge loan, GM had a balance of €900 million (~$1.3 billion) as of September 30, 2009. Opel has already repaid €500 million (~$0.7 billion) of that in November, and will repay the remaining €400 million (~$0.6 billion) balance by the end of the month. The cash balance in Europe as of September 30, 2009 was $2.9 billion.
GM also plans to repay the United States, Canadian and Ontario government loans in quarterly installments from escrowed funds, beginning next month with an initial $1.2 billion payment to be made in December ($1.0 billion to the UST and $192 million to the EDC), followed by quarterly payments. Any escrowed funds available as of June 30, 2010 would be used to repay the UST and EDC loans unless the escrowed funds were extended one year by the UST. Any balance of funds would be released to GM after the repayment of the UST and EDC loans.
GM’s total debt as of September 30, 2009 was $17 billion, including $6.7 billion in U.S. government loans, $1.4 billion in Canadian government loans, $1.3 billion in German government loans and $7.6 billion in other debt globally. The $17 billion debt level does not include the UAW or CAW Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association notes for health care, or preferred stock, which are $2.5 billion, $0.7 billion and $9 billion, respectively.
While GM has reached settlements for the UAW and CAW VEBAs, the debt associated with the agreements will not be recognized until all preconditions are met and they become effective, which will be December 31, 2009 or later. Prior to the start of the new GM, total debt of Old GM was $94.7 billion as of July 9, 2009.