DETROIT — The last time General Motors threw a big party was two years ago, for its 100th birthday. Two months later, its chief executive was before Congress, begging for bailout money.
Now, GM is getting ready for another celebration — this time for its future. The automaker will be reborn as a public company today with a stock offering, ending the government’s role as majority shareholder and closing a remarkable chapter in American corporate history.
The U.S. government should gross about $13.6 billion when GM shares start trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The federal Treasury is unloading more than 400 million shares of GM, reducing its stake in the company from 61 percent to about 33 percent.
“This is an extraordinarily important moment in the life of GM, along with emerging from bankruptcy,” said Steve Rattner, who headed up President Barack Obama’s auto task force for several months. “It’s not the end of the story of government involvement in GM, but it is a critically important step forward.”
The IPO will be the fifth-largest in American history. Investor demand is so high that the company raised the number of shares it will offer and the range for the initial price, which is set at $33 per common share.
Together, the sale of common and preferred stock will bring the deal’s value to $23.2 billion.
