Sponsored by: Investment Center

Something new in your business?  Click here to submit your business press release

Chamber Corner | Main Street News | Job Hunt | Classifieds | Calendar | Illinois Lottery 

Government sells 58.4M shares of GM stock

[May 11, 2013]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has sold another piece of its stake in General Motors Co.

The Treasury Department said Friday in its April report to Congress that so far this year it has sold 58.4 million shares of GM stock and earned net proceeds of $1.6 billion.

At the end of April, Treasury had recovered about $30.7 billion of the $49.5 billion bailout it gave the Detroit automaker. That means that taxpayers are still $18.8 billion in the hole.

GM stock sold in April in a range of $27.52 to $30.84 per share. For the government to break even on its investment, the remaining stock would have to sell for more than double the April high.

On Friday GM shares closed at $31.42, down 23 cents.

In January, Treasury began selling its remaining shares of GM stock and announced it planned to complete those sales by early 2014.

And on Monday, Treasury said it would proceed with the next phase of its sales plan with the goal of selling its remaining 241.7 million shares of GM stock. That stock would have to sell for about $78 per share for the government to recoup its total costs in the GM bailout.

GM nearly ran out of cash in 2008 and needed government money to survive a trip through bankruptcy reorganization.

Last year the company bought 200 million of its shares from the government for $5.5 billion. GM's shares sold for $33 when they began publicly trading again in November 2010.

[Associated Press; By MARTIN CRUTSINGER]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.