UPDATE | Court ruling today enables GM to avoid shuttering plants

LORDSTOWN

A judge’s order in an automotive supplier’s bankruptcy hearing will allow General Motors to seek new parts manufacturers and avoid shuttering its North American assembly plants.

Today, U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Massachusetts Judge Christopher J. Panos granted GM the right to recover its tooling from Clark-Cutler-McDermott Co., CMM, a supplier that recently filed for bankruptcy.

Judge Panos also allowed GM to purchase finished goods inventory from CCM for the slightly more than $2.9 million.

The judge, however, denied GM’s request to take possession of equipment at CCM.

The judge also ordered that CCM contracts with GM end. CCM will have no “continuing obligations” to perform the contract unless CCM has to assist with the transition to another parts manufacturer.

The Vindicator listened in on a hearing for the bankruptcy case Wednesday.

CCM, a 105-year-old company based in Massachusetts with another plant in Lafayette, Ga., filed for bankruptcy last Thursday. The company claimed in the filing it has 200 to 999 creditors and assets and liabilities of $10 million to $50 million.

Read more about the situation in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.