GM to seek up to $10.5B stock offering

UPDATE This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' with this announcement from GM.

11/01/10 General Motors Co. is expected to file plans as early as Tuesday to seek up to a $10.5 billion initial public stock offering, two people briefed on the matter said today .

GM is planning to sell about 365 million shares for between $26 and $29, for a total of between $9.5 billion to $10.5 billion, the people said.

The exact price will be set based on market demand during GM's two-week road show, which is slated to begin Wednesday.

Two teams of GM executives will pitch the stock offering to investors at meetings in the United States, Canada and Europe and elsewhere.

Reuters first reported the terms of GM's planned IPO — which is expected to be announced late Tuesday.

The deal is expected to cut the Treasury's stake in GM from 61 percent to 43 percent. The government had swapped $40 billion in loans for a majority stake in the automaker.

The government is expected to sell between $6 billion and $7 billion in shares, while the United Auto Workers health care trust fund is expected to cut its 17.5 percent stake and sell about $2 billion in stock.

The Ontario and Canadian governments, which hold an 11.7 percent stake, are expected to sell about $1 billion.

GM said previously it planned to sell preferred stock. People briefed on the matter said GM plans to sell up to $3 billion in preferred stock.

It's not immediately clear how much the Treasury will lose during the first stock sale. Detroit News