DETROIT: General Motors yesterday prepared to face the fallout from a failed debt exchange that sends the largest US automaker closer to a bankruptcy filing expected by the end of the month.

GM bondholders had until midnight to trade $27 billion in debt for a 10-percent ownership stake in the reorganized company that US officials have said could emerge from a quick trip through bankruptcy court.

As the deadline passed there was no word from GM on how much debt the offer had succeeded in retiring.