Obama sees GM emerging quickly from bankruptcy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday he was confident General Motors Corp would emerge quickly from bankruptcy, saying the government is in a reluctant position as a controlling shareholder.

Obama, in remarks at the White House just hours after GM sought bankruptcy protection in New York, said the automaker -- not his administration -- would make decisions on plants, new products and day-to-day operations.

"Our goal is to get GM back on its feet, take a hands off approach and get out quickly," Obama said.

A White House/Treasury task force overseeing the restructuring of GM and Chrysler estimates that GM's bankruptcy would take 60 to 90 days to complete.

Chrysler sought creditor protection on April 30 and is poised to exit within days after gaining a bankruptcy judge's approval of its plan to form an alliance with Italy's Fiat.

Obama said painful debt and cost-cutting concessions by labor and creditors achieved a viable and achievable plan for GM to complete its restructuring and give it a chance to succeed, providing it is well managed and sales rebound.

"When that happens, we can truly say that what is good for General Motors and all who work there is good for the United States of America," Obama said, borrowing a phrase from long ago that reflected GM's iconic status in the U.S. economy.

The administration will hold a 60 percent stake in GM once it emerges from bankruptcy in return for $50 billion in assistance. Nearly half of that money has already been extended to the company in bailouts. The rest will come in debtor financing and the administration does not expect GM to write any writeoff of the new loans.

Obama said government intervention in GM and Chrysler was necessary to prevent industry collapse and serious harm to the U.S. economy.

Steven Rattner, Obama's chief adviser on industry restructuring as the day-to-day head of the administration's autos task force, told reporters the government has no specific timetable for relinquishing control of GM.

But Rattner said the plan was for the administration to let management run the company and return it to the public markets once it can stand on its own.

Following the bankruptcy filing, GM shares were removed from the Dow Jones industrial average and delisted by the New York Stock Exchange.

"We do intend for it to be returned to public ownership as soon as practicable. We've said that is six to 18 months," Rattner said. "It's not something we can fully control the timing of. It will be driven by market conditions, the state of the economy and the state of this company."

Rattner said it would be unlikely that any sale of the government's stake could be accomplished in one or two transactions.

"We would expect we'd be selling in a series of sales," he said.

Rattner, a former investment banker, said any exit also would have to be coordinated with the Canadian government and the United Auto Workers retiree health care trust, both of which will own stakes in the new GM.

The administration will likely recommend that GM continue to publicly file financial results even though it will not be publicly traded once it emerges from Chapter 11.

(Reporting by John Crawley, editing by Maureen Bavdek and Bernard Orr)