General Motors
General Motors made its first public offering since filing for bankruptcy. GM stock began trading on Wall Street again Thursday, signaling the rebirth of the American corporate icon.
The stock began an immediate rise in its first minutes of buying and selling, going for nearly $36 per share — up 6% more than the price GM set for the initial public offering. The stock traded for less than a dollar when the company filed for bankruptcy last year.
The U.S. Treasury Department, which took a 60.8% stake in GM in return for the $50 billion bailout that saw it through bankruptcy just 17 months ago, sold 75% of the common shares put up for sale Thursday. That will return at least $11.8 billion to taxpayers. The offering will reduce U.S. Treasury’s stake in the company to around 26%.
The Chinese bought up GM stock with excess US dollars giving them an 18% stake in the auto company.
To mark its return to Wall Street, GM is displaying the battery-powered Chevrolet Volt and other models outside the New York Stock Exchange, and Chief Executive Dan Akerson signaled the opening of Thursday’s trading on the exchange floor by sounding a horn from the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS model.
