GM files for initial public offering, aims to trim US Treasury stake to less than 50 per cent

GM files for initial public offering, aims to trim US Treasury stake to less than 50 per centGeneral Motors is trying to shake its “Government Motors” tag off bit by bit, and the American carmaker has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) which could be worth as much as $16 billion, an insider told Bloomberg last week. GM didn’t reveal the number of shares that will be offered in the IPO or the price in a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to people familiar with the deal, the IPO may be held in November, and the aim is to sell a fifth of the Treasury’s 304 million shares, cutting the government’s stake to less than 50%.

GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1, 2009, after posting $88 billion of losses since 2004 (that was the last year the company reported an annual profit). The government stepped in with a $50 billion taxpayer bailout and as a result, the U.S. Treasury currently owns 61% of GM.

Things have looked up ever since. The company has just reported a Q2 2010 net income of $1.54 billion as vehicle sales and production increased, a 44% rise from the previous quarter. Revenue increased 44% from a year ago to $33.2 billion thanks to strong sales in China and popular models like the Chevrolet Equinox. However, GM’s European operations (Opel/Vauxhall) is consistently letting the side down – it lost $506 million in the first quarter.

Besides regaining legitimacy as a private company, the funds generated from the IPO will be channeled to revive Opel/Vauxhall and rebuild GM’s remaining domestic brands Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. The Detroit carmaker has already offloaded Saab and wound down Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn brands.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • azrai on Aug 19, 2010 at 12:08 pm

    And our people says that the G own Proton, while the US G have done it in a bigger scale. So true Dr. M words.

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  • nazri on Aug 21, 2010 at 6:55 am

    where the basher ?

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  • KH.TAN on Aug 21, 2010 at 9:30 am

    may i know BMW 5 series japan spec 05/07 can used engine oil contains MoS2 or not .Tq

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