G.M. is expected to sell about 365 million common shares at $26 to $29 each, these people said. It also plans to sell up to $3 billion worth of preferred shares that will later convert into common shares.
The automaker is planning a three-for-one stock split that will bring its total outstanding shares to about 1.5 billion, one of these people said.
These people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the offering before they are disclosed in a public filing, which could come as soon as Tuesday.
At the high end of the offering’s proposed price range, G.M.’s market value could approach $60 billion, exceeding the $48.9 billion capitalization of the Ford Motor Company.
Through the offering, the Treasury Department, which gained a 61 percent stake in G.M. as part of its $50 billion bailout of the company last year, will sell about $7 billion worth of shares. That will cut its holdings in the company to just more than 43 percent, these people said.
Treasury intends to further reduce its holdings with subsequent stock sales over several years.
Other G.M. stockholders are also expected to sell shares in the offering: the United Automobile Workers plans to sell about $2 billion in stock, while the Canadian and Ontario governments will sell about $1 billion.
A G.M. spokeswoman, Noreen Pratscher, declined to comment.
Teams of G.M. executives are expected to begin a road show for investors in several cities later this week and then set the actual price of the stock offering on or about Nov. 17, these people said.
Demand for the offering has been strong, these people said, and G.M.’s bankers, led by JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, expect to exercise an over-allotment option that will raise more money.
While Treasury has pushed to reserve a large portion of the offering for retail investors, a handful of sovereign wealth funds are expected to buy as much as $2 billion in shares, these people said.
G.M. had once hoped to sell as much as $15 billion in stock in the initial offering — which would have been one of the largest on record — in an effort to shed a “Government Motors” stigma that the company thinks has cost it sales in the United States. The company’s former government-appointed chief executive, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., had expressed a desire to sell the Treasury Department’s stake all at once if possible.
But Treasury pushed back, seeking to maximize the price it fetched for its shares.
Auto analysts have projected that G.M. could raise enough in its stock sale to eventually pay back much or all of its government-financed bailout, which included a quick bankruptcy filing that shed unwanted assets like dealerships and factories. But the plan will require both time and a rising stock price, both of which company and government officials acknowledge.
G.M. took several steps last week to improve its balance sheet in advance of the public offering, including contributing cash and stock for its pension plan, buying $2.1 billion in preferred shares held by the Treasury, and paying $2.8 billion into a health care trust for retired workers.
G.M. also said it had negotiated a $5 billion, five-year credit facility with a syndicate of banks to provide capital for its business operations.
Some of the details of the G.M. offering were reported by Reuters on Monday.
G.M. Said to Plan to Cut U.S. Stake to Less Than Half - NYTimes.com
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