Details of the plan began to leak out earlier this week, and now we have the official numbers. The offering will consist of 365 million shares of common stock currently held by the various government and union entities. The U.S. federal government will sell at least 263.5 million shares, while the Canadian federal government and the Ontario provincial government will offer 30.5 million shares.
The nearly 294 million shares being sold by the U.S. and Canadian governments represent a relatively small portion of their overall holdings in the company. The U.S. Treasury has indicated it will slowly sell shares over time to avoid flooding the market with too many shares, which would ultimately drive the per-share price down.
Some analysts are predicting GM could reach $45 per share after it begins trading. If the stock can maintain that level over an extended period of time, the governments involved in bailing out GM could slowly divest more shares, ultimately bringing in a profit for taxpayers.
