DETROIT — General Motors’ initial public offering will expand by almost a third as the U.S. Treasury Department and the United Auto Workers’ retiree health care trust sell more stock, said two people familiar with the plans.
GM may seek to raise as much as $15.8 billion by increasing the number of shares 31 percent to 478 million, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private. The Detroit- based automaker earlier Tuesday raised its price sought to a range of $32 to $33 each, from $26 to $29.
The IPO, scheduled for today, will help chief executive Dan Akerson return some of the $49.5 billion GM received in a taxpayer bailout last year. The Treasury, which is taking a loss on its portion of the sale, will break even only if the shares climb at least 50 percent, Bloomberg data show.
The IPO would be the second-largest in U.S. history, after Visa Inc.’s $19.7 billion sale, and comes 16 months after GM emerged from bankruptcy.
