Electric-car bankruptcy: Fisker buyer advances
Jan. 3 hearing on Richard Li's Hybrid Technology bid
Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington on Tuesday set a Jan. 3 hearing on a plan for creditors to approve the proposed sale of the company to Hong Kong-based Hybrid Technology LLC for $25 million. Writes the Associated Press here. Highlights:
"Hybrid Technology LLC, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li, is seeking to buy Fisker in bankruptcy after paying $25 million for DOE's outstanding loan, resulting in a loss to federal taxpayers of $139 million...
"Fisker, which had planned to build cars at a former General Motors plant in Delaware, filed for bankruptcy protection last month, ending a long, downward spiral that began after it received a $529 million loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy.
"Fisker's plan calls for the transfer of substantially all of its assets to Hybrid in a private sale. Hybrid would use a $75 million credit bid based on the secured loan it holds to take ownership of Fisker.... Unsecured creditors'... claims are estimated at about $250 million." Delaware also lent the project millions and officials still hope the new owner will consider the use of a former General Motors plant in Stanton, near Wilmington, to build electric cars someday. Vice President Joe Biden, who lives near the plant, visited the site in 2009 to promote Fisker.