GM bondholders: Our plan best chance for automaker

Advisers to bondholders of General Motors Corp said on Monday they have presented a framework plan to President Barack Obama's autos task force and the ailing No. 1 U.S. automaker that provides the company's best chance for an out-of-court restructuring.

It (the framework) provides the best chance ... of completing an out-of-court restructuring by securing a high level of acceptance among a diverse group of GM bondholders -- from mutual funds to pension funds to retail bondholders, the statement added.

The plan, which was presented to the autos task force and GM several weeks ago, is one of several options on the table that seeks to achieve a successful out-of-court restructuring, the statement said.

GM bondholders face pressure under the terms of the automaker's bailout from the U.S. government to reduce by two-thirds the roughly $27 billion they are owed, through an exchange for new equity in a recapitalized company.

Bondholders have balked at those proposed terms, saying they are unfair given the payout terms being offered to workers represented by the United Auto Workers union and the remaining debt at GM.

GM and No. 3 U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC -- 80-percent controlled by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP -- face a March 31 deadline when the autos task force must decide whether the companies can be restructured successfully.

GM has received $13.4 billion in emergency government loans and Chrysler has taken $4 billion so far. Both automakers have requested additional billions of additional dollars in loans to help them stave off bankruptcy.

The U.S. auto industry is suffering from its worst downturn in decades, with industrywide sales down more than 40 percent in February.

Ford Motor Co , the third member of Detroit's storied Big Three, has not sought any emergency funding and says it has sufficient liquidity to make it through 2009.

(Reporting by Nick Carey and David Bailey; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)