GM gears to cut Treasury stake

LITTLE ROCK — General Motors Co. is preparing for an initial public offering that would sell 20 percent of the Treasury’s stake in the automaker and reduce the U.S. to a minority owner, said two people familiar with the plan.

The aim is to sell a fifth of the government’s 304 million shares, said the sources, who asked not to be identified. That would reduce the Treasury Department’s stake to less than 50 percent from 61 percent now. Final decisions on which owners will sell how many shares haven’t been made, the sources said.

A registration statement may be filed in August, aiming for a November stock sale, said four people familiar with the plan. The sale is expected to raise $10 billion to $15 billion, depending on the company’s performance, the strength of the economy and the health of the initial public offering market, the sources said.

An August filing means Detroit-based GM could have the IPO ready about the time of the Nov. 2 congressional elections, said the sources. If Treasury can sell enough shares, President Barack Obama could help Democrats running for office by arguing that his administration’s restructuring of GM is paying off, said Joe Phillippi, president of AutoTrends Consulting.

“The government wants a successful offering soon so they can say that they took the company through bankruptcy,turned it over to independent management and are taking it public,” said Phillippi, who is based in Short Hills, N.J.. “This would be part of the campaign spin.”

The automaker may also issue new shares to raise cash and sell shares owned by Canada and a union-led retiree health-care trust, one of the sources said.

Selim Bingol, a GM spokesman, declined in an e-mail to comment about the matter.

GM has invited analysts, potential investors and representatives of its current shareholders to Detroit for a review of the business Tuesday, said a spokesman, Renee Rashid-Merem. GM will also give the members of the financial community a look at current and future models, she said.

The initial public offering will be managed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, people familiar with the matter have said. They will collect fees of 0.75 percent of the sale, said a person briefed on the matter. Such fees would be a quarter of the usual rate for large stock sales.

JPMorgan had offered to accept payment in equity instead of cash, though that idea was rejected by GM and Treasury, two sources said.

The U.S. will probably sell its GM stock over “a few years,” Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said May 17.