Related News
Sale of last GM stake by end-2013
Print Edition
The US government expects to sell the last of its stake in General Motors by the end of the year, bringing an end to a sad chapter in the company’s storied history.
The Treasury Department, in a statement issued yesterday, said it still owns 31.1 million shares of the auto giant, less than 2 percent. It plans to sell the shares by December 31, as long as the price holds up.
The government received 912 million shares in exchange for a US$49.5 billion bailout during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. So far it has recovered US$38.4 billion of the money, but selling the remaining shares at Wednesday’s US$37.69 closing price gets the government US$1.17 billion, leaving taxpayers short by roughly US$10 billion.
The government says the bailout was needed five years ago to save the American auto industry and more than a million jobs. It never expected to get all of the money back.
“Had we not acted to support the automotive industry, the cost to the country would have been substantial — in terms of lost jobs, lost tax revenue, reduced economic production and other consequences,” Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Tim Bowler said in the statement.
Taxpayers initially got a 61 percent stake in GM in exchange for the bailout. Treasury gradually has sold off its stake since a November 2010 initial public offering.
GM said that work to transform the company continues.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
