The US Treasury's sale of General Motors stock continues, with the unloading of more than 110 million shares between May 9 and September 13 netting the government agency $3.82 billion and reducing its stake in GM to 7.3 percent, Reuters reports. The Treasury also confirmed that it now holds 101-million shares, which are on track to be sold by March 2014.
Those remaining shares are currently worth $3.7 billion, with GM stock closing at $36.71 per share as of yesterday. That means Treasury is on track to lose $10 billion from the bailout, which is far less than earlier estimates of more than $20 billion. But to recoup the full amount, it was reported in July that GM stock would need to be worth over $95 per share – it's presently trading around $37.50. Supporters of the bailout note that the bailout was meant to save jobs and stabilize the wider economy, a consequence of which is that Washington – and taxpayers – probably won't break even.
The US government originally took a 60.8 percent stake in GM valued at $49.5 billion as part of the 2009 bailout, and has since that time, it has been reducing its stake in the company with the goal of selling all of its GM stock and recouping as much of the bailout money as possible. The selloff started when the automaker went public in 2010.
In December, the Treasury announced it would sell its remaining GM stock over the next 12 to 15 months. At the time, it held roughly 500-million shares, 200m of which were bought back by General Motors before 2013 at a negotiated price of $27.50 per share. In February, it reduced its stake in GM to 19 percent with the sale of 17.2-million shares. In July, the Treasury announced that it had sold more shares, totaling $876.9 million, which reduced the government's stake in GM by 23-26-million shares to around 135-137-million shares. Between then and September 13, the Treasury sold another 34-36 million shares to land at the current number of 101 million, or a stake of 7.3 percent.
Treasury Assistant Secretary Timothy Massad said in a statement: "We remain on track to complete our exit from GM by early next year at a cost far less than originally projected," Reuters reports.
Those remaining shares are currently worth $3.7 billion, with GM stock closing at $36.71 per share as of yesterday. That means Treasury is on track to lose $10 billion from the bailout, which is far less than earlier estimates of more than $20 billion. But to recoup the full amount, it was reported in July that GM stock would need to be worth over $95 per share – it's presently trading around $37.50. Supporters of the bailout note that the bailout was meant to save jobs and stabilize the wider economy, a consequence of which is that Washington – and taxpayers – probably won't break even.
The US government originally took a 60.8 percent stake in GM valued at $49.5 billion as part of the 2009 bailout, and has since that time, it has been reducing its stake in the company with the goal of selling all of its GM stock and recouping as much of the bailout money as possible. The selloff started when the automaker went public in 2010.
In December, the Treasury announced it would sell its remaining GM stock over the next 12 to 15 months. At the time, it held roughly 500-million shares, 200m of which were bought back by General Motors before 2013 at a negotiated price of $27.50 per share. In February, it reduced its stake in GM to 19 percent with the sale of 17.2-million shares. In July, the Treasury announced that it had sold more shares, totaling $876.9 million, which reduced the government's stake in GM by 23-26-million shares to around 135-137-million shares. Between then and September 13, the Treasury sold another 34-36 million shares to land at the current number of 101 million, or a stake of 7.3 percent.
Treasury Assistant Secretary Timothy Massad said in a statement: "We remain on track to complete our exit from GM by early next year at a cost far less than originally projected," Reuters reports.
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