Wie Bloomberg berichtet, erhält die GMAC Bank von der grössten amerikanischen Bank Citigroup einen zusätzlichen Kredit in Höhe von 21 Milliarden US$ - davon 14 Milliareden US$ zur sofortigen Verfügung - der Rest ist an bestimmte Bedingungen geknüpft...
Nachdem das Geschäft mit Subprime-Krediten zusammengebrochen ist, müssen neue Betätigungsfelder erschlossen werden - aber ob das der einzigste Grund für die "14 Milliarden Soforthilfe" ist?!
GMAC Gets $21 Billion in Citigroup Funding for Auto, Home Loans
By Jody Shenn and Greg Bensinger
Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- GMAC LLC, the lender that reported more than $1 billion of mortgage losses after General Motors Corp. sold a controlling stake last year, is getting as much as $21.4 billion in additional credit from Citigroup Inc. for auto and home loans.
Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank, will make $14.4 billion available immediately and as much as $7 billion more if GMAC meets certain conditions, GMAC said in a regulatory filing yesterday. The agreement replaces a $10 billion asset-backed funding facility that Citigroup provided GMAC in August 2006. Detroit-based GMAC didn't disclose the terms of the financing.
The financial support from Citigroup may allow GMAC to expand its market share after the subprime-mortgage crisis knocked out more than 100 home-loan companies in the past 20 months. GMAC last month moved to inject $775 million into its Residential Capital LLC mortgage unit, known as ResCap, after rival lenders lost access to short-term financing amid the worst U.S. housing slump in 16 years.
``This new liquidity is a significant positive for ResCap, and naturally helps GMAC as well,'' Banc of America Securities analysts Glen Taksler and Clemens Mueller said in a report after GMAC's late-day announcement.
The analysts said five-year GMAC credit-default swaps narrowed by 50 basis points to 520 to 545, signaling that investors now consider the company at less risk of defaulting on its debt.
Citigroup Ties
New York-based Citigroup is more than a lender to GMAC. It was part of the group led by Cerberus Capital Management LP that bought a 50.1 percent stake in GMAC last year from GM. Michael Klein, co-head of Citigroup's investment banking and trading group, is a member of GMAC's board.
Minneapolis-based ResCap ranked as the ninth-largest U.S. mortgage lender in the first half of this year, with $41 billion in new loans, according to industry newsletter Inside MBS & ABS. The unit reported losses of $1.15 billion in the past two quarters as defaults on subprime loans made to borrowers with low credit scores accelerated.
``We view today's disclosure as added evidence that GMAC is making an effort to provide funding support to its troubled mortgage operation,'' Kathleen Shanley, a fixed-income analyst at Gimme Credit LLC, wrote in a report to clients yesterday.
The fallout from declining home prices has frozen funding for lenders because investors don't want to buy mortgages or bonds backed by housing loans for fear they may be worthless. A record number of Americans are facing foreclosure, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
`Prudent' Funding
``With the current global credit market, the company decided this funding was prudent,'' said Gina Proia, a spokeswoman for GMAC. ``This gives us additional liquidity. It bolsters our financial flexibility.''
Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage company, was forced to tap $11.5 billion of emergency financing last month to avert a cash shortage. Bank of America Corp. then stepped in with a $2 billion investment on Aug. 22, easing concern that Countrywide might end up in bankruptcy.
``Enhancing financial flexibility in today's market is a prudent measure,'' said GM spokesman Randy Arickx. He declined further comment. Citigroup spokesman Dan Noonan declined to comment beyond GMAC's filing.
The new credit, which Citigroup may syndicate out to other lenders, has a one-year term, compared with a three-year term for the previous facility, Proia said. A majority of the funds are earmarked for car loans and related securities, Proia said.
ResCap was borrowing $12.3 billion as of June 30 through an affiliate that issues asset-backed commercial paper, according to a presentation on its Web site. Mortgage companies including Countrywide lost access to commercial-paper markets amid a global pullback in credit for high-risk borrowers.
`Good for GMAC'
``It's really good for GMAC,'' said Thomas Flaherty, who owns GMAC's 8 percent bonds due in 2031 as part of the $25 billion he manages at Aberdeen Asset Management in Philadelphia. ``This is a very difficult environment, a very tough market.''
Cerberus, the New York-based buyout firm and hedge fund manager, led the $14.4 billion purchase last year of a 51 percent stake in GMAC. GM later injected $1 billion of capital into GMAC to make up for writedowns on mortgage assets at ResCap.
