U.S. Treasury To Sell 30M General Motors Shares

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The Treasury Department announced Monday of its plans to start another round of sales for the stock of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), says a report from Reuters. The government acquired a significant stake in the automaker at the time of providing bailout during the crisis.

U.S. Treasury To Sell 30M General Motors Shares

The Treasury Department will offload 30 million shares of the automaker in a public offering on June 6, on the same day General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) will also be included in Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes.

Apart from the Treasury Department, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, which owns 20 million shares of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), will also offer its shares to the public. In total 50 million shares of General Motors will be offered to the public.

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) senior vice president and CFO, Dan Ammann told “We appreciate the opportunity to assist in this offering made possible by our rejoining the S&P 500.” He further said the company will continue the progress it is registering in the “marketplace with world-class cars, trucks and crossovers.”

Bailout

The government at the time of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)’s bankruptcy, provided the company with $49.5 billion in return of 60.8 percent stake. The bailout was given under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The decision by the treasury reflects the efforts made by the department to conclude U.S. government’s stake in the No. 1 U.S. automaker.

Excluding this sale, the treasury still owns 241.7 million shares representing almost 18 percent stake in the automaker. As per the department, it plans to sell all the units by early next year. In the earlier transaction, the treasury sold 200 million shares back to the company in December.

RBC views it as “opportunistic”

As per the report from RBC, after the sale the VEBA (UAW Retiree Medical Benefits) trust ownership in the company will be down to 9 percent. The Canadian government still holds 140 million shares or 9 percent stake in General Motors Company (NYSE:GM).

The report terms the sale as “opportunistic” given the recent S&P 500 inclusion announcement. The report believes the offering “could open the door for additional capital actions including a potential dividend.”

General Motors (GM) Re-joining S&P 500 index

After the close of trading on Thursday, GM will rejoin the S&P 500 index after being dropped from the group in 2009.

On the S&P 500 index, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) will replace H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ), which is being purchased for $23 billion by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) and other investors. The U.S. automaker had been in the S&P 500 since the index was established in 1957.

On Wednesday trading, GM shares were up marginally by 0.1 percent at $34.97, after rising 1.6 percent yesterday, helped by news of rejoining the S&P 500.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) are acting as the underwriters for the latest offerings.

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