Capmark Financial Group Inc.!

It would seem as though General Motors has finally been able to do something right! Just when it seemed like Rick Wagner could not dig GM’s grave any deeper, the former CFO was titled in two awesome announcements; one yesterday with a deal made with Delphi and the UAW; and one today with the sale of a unit of GMAC.

First let’s get the old news out of the way… The Delphi/UAW headache was looking like it was going nowhere fast. Delphi even pushed back threats of asking the bankruptcy judge to order the UAW contracts void. Had that actually happened, the UAW workers would not have bothered to come to work (duh). GM, being the top buyer (and former parent company) would have had a lack of parts and other vital supplies which would equal no more Chevy Tahoe’s, Corvettes or Caddy STS-V’s or any other car or truck. Basically a total shut down of Delphi would mean a total shut down of General Motors; which is why the guys over at Delphi didn’t ask for a court order.

The deal stuck would allow about 113,000 hourly employees to opt for early retirement with a “buy out” of anywhere between 35,000 to 100,000 dollars depending on the rank and age of each employee. About 30,000 employees come from General Motors various factories, the rest coming from Delphi with a few thousand coming from the various “job banks” GM has set up to fire people with out actually firing them.

Now for the best news to come from GM since the 1990 ZR-1 Corvette or maybe the STS-V… well it’s really good news anyway. General Motors Acceptance Group was able to sell 78% of its mortgage unit. This deal is kind of hard to understand because the sale involves three firms and the renaming of the unit that was sold. To try to keep things simple, I will attempt to design an analysis for you, the loyal All American reader.

I am not too sure if I even can do a very good job here; BUT GM has as a part of the larger company, GMAC. GMAC has as a part of the company its commercial mortgage unit. 78% of that unit has been sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Five Mile Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and will be renamed Capmark financial Group Inc. Most importantly Capmark financial Group Inc. will open with investment grade bonds rated at BBB. That is the lowest investment grade given by the S&P500, but it’s a whole hell of a lot better than the junk bond status held by the rest of GMAC.

What this really means for GMAC is it continues to be only division of General Motors that is making money; but more importantly the rating companies may look favorably and rate GMAC bonds under investment grade. The reason for the new name is not just as a formality from the takeover of majority equity but an attempt to fool the rating companies into thinking the legacy of GMAC is no longer a factor. What this means for GM is maybe the company it not so doomed after all. This is not a done deal yet, and everything needs to be finalized.