by Calculated Risk on 4/29/2009 07:15:00 PM

From the WSJ: Treasury Sweetens Offer to Lenders In Chrysler Bankruptcy Talks

The U.S. Treasury, in a last-ditch effort to avoid a bankruptcy filing by Chrysler LLC, has sweetened its most recent offer to lenders by $250 million ... Lenders, who had until 6 p.m. to vote on the offer ... were notified at 4:30 via conference call and were sent to a Web site to vote for the deal.

Such a deal can't be approved outside bankruptcy court without 100% consent from lenders....

One reason Chrysler may need to file for bankruptcy is so that Fiat can clear out hundreds of auto dealers from its sales network, which is easier to do in bankruptcy where dealer franchisee agreements can quickly be rejected or amended. The automaker also has asbestos and environmental liabilities which Fiat does not want and are more easily shed in bankruptcy court.
...
Plans were under way for President Barack Obama to deliver a speech about Chrysler on Thursday morning. People who have been briefed on the matter said two versions of the speech were being drafted ...

Down to the last few hours ...