GM pushing for GMAC deal, report says
Auto manufacturer wants outline of deal to sell majority stake in finance unit prior to board meeting Monday, newspaper says.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - General Motors is putting pressure on its investment bankers to reach the outline of a deal to sell a majority stake in its GMAC finance arm before its board meets Monday, according to a published report. The Financial Times reports that could be worth $11.5 billion but that the slow progress of talks about a sale of GMAC have dismayed GM (Research) and GMAC investors. The finance arm has seen its credit rating downgraded to junk bond status because of the financial problems and downgrade at the auto manufacturer last year, and it is expected that a sale of control of GMAC would return the unit to an investment grade rating. The newspaper reports that without at least a draft of a deal to consider, the GM board could consider scrapping the sale or scale it back to divest only Residential Capital, its mortgage lending unit. But the newspaper says the Monday deadline is not definitive. A consortium of Cerberus Capital Management and the private equity arm of Citigroup (Research) are considered the lead bidders for GMAC, although Wachovia (Research) and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts have also been involved in discussions. Monday will be the first meeting of the GM board to include Jerry York, an advisor to GM investor Kirk Kerkorian, who was added to the board earlier this month. ______________ For more on the problems facing GM, click here. |
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