GM stakes virtual property in case of bankruptcy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors has quietly roped off a bit of virtual real estate with an address similar to one used by Chrysler, that could serve as an information clearinghouse if GM seeks bankruptcy protection.

GM registered gmrestructuring.com and gm-restructuring.com in early April.

GM has said it expects to file for bankruptcy protection if it cannot restructure its bond debt, cement concessions with its union and show it can be viable ahead of a June 1 deadline from the U.S. government.

The company has accepted billions of dollars in government aid and has said that if it files for bankruptcy it would most likely pursue a quick sale of its best assets to a new operating company, similar to the process now being used by Chrysler.

Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy last month and Epiq Systems Inc, a claims agent that processes court documents for the company's bankruptcy case, registered and set up chryslerrestructuring.com for free access to certain court documents and details in that case.

Other large cases with public dockets include lehman-docket.com, also registered by Epiq, and delphidocket.com, registered by Kurtzman Carson Consultants, according to domain registry information from Network Solutions.

GM has not put any information on the sites.

Others have scooped up sites related to automakers. Gmbankruptcy.com has been registered since 2005 by Jon Jerman of Hackensack, New Jersey, and gmfiat.com was registered to an Italian address last week. In anticipation of a reincarnation, gmreborn.com was registered in March by the Deutsch Advertising Agency in Los Angeles.

GM, Jerman and Deutsch were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Thomas Hals; Editing by Toni Reinhold