NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The federal agency that insures private pension plans intends to sell half of its 20 percent stake in UAL Corp., which is due to emerge from bankruptcy protection Wednesday, according to a published report.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. became an unsecured creditor and the largest single shareholder in UAL, parent of United Airlines, after the company shifted $10.2 billion in unfunded pension liabilities to the agency as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, The Wall Street Journal said.

The agency, which takes the position that the government should not take an active role in corporate management or governance, sells equity stakes it receives through bankruptcy organizations in relatively short periods of time, the newspaper said.

The PBGC will recover more than the 7 cents on the dollar it normally realizes as an unsecured creditor in bankruptcies with the sale of some stock and the $1.5 billion worth of additional notes and preferred share it is receiving, according to the report.

Shares of UAL Corp. are expected to start trading Thursday on the Nasdaq, and there are suggestions that UAL's new stock could trade at more than $42 a share, according to the Journal.

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