NEW YORK — A federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of most of Chrysler LLC’s assets to Italy’s Fiat, moving the American automaker a step closer to its goal of a quick exit from court protection.
But a trio of Indiana state pension and construction funds filed an appeal, saying that the ruling sets aside the rights of the company’s secured lenders while doling out the company’s assets to others.
Judge Arthur Gonzalez said in his ruling late Sunday that a speedy sale — the centerpiece of a restructuring plan backed by President Barack Obama’s automotive task force — was needed to keep the value of Chrysler from deteriorating and would provide a better return for the company’s stakeholders than if it had chosen to liquidate.
“Any material delay would result in substantial costs in several areas, including the amounts required to restart the operations, loss of skilled workers, loss of suppliers and dealers who could be forced to go out of business in the interim, and the erosion of consumer confidence,” Gonzalez wrote in his opinion.
“With this approval, the new Chrysler Group is created and can prepare to launch as a vibrant new company formed with Fiat,” Robert Nardelli, Chrysler’s outgoing chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
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