Technology Slice Blog

GM Selling Stock - General Motors Co.’s initial public offering last week may help the largest U.S. automaker get consideration from car and truck buyers, according to Moody’s Investors Service. “U.S. consumers who don’t know anything about over- allocation options or the need for strong liquidity in a cyclical industry knew that something exceptionally good happened to GM last week,” Bruce Clark, an analyst, wrote today in a research note. “That knowledge makes it more likely that they will consider buying a GM vehicle and possibly buy one. That’s good for the company’s credit quality.” The financial benefits of the IPO, which raised more than $20 billion selling common and preferred stock, were “largely anticipated and are already reflected in the company’s rating,” Clark wrote. Moody’s assigned GM a Ba2 rating, the second level below investment grade, on Oct. 11. New York-based Moody’s said it has a stable outlook on the Detroit-based automaker. Deliveries by GM in the U.S....

GM Selling Stock, Shares - General Motors Co. is on pace to sell $18.1 billion in shares in what likely will be the second-largest U.S. initial public offering ever, capping a remarkable two-year turnaround in which the car maker went from begging for a government bailout to posting its first steady profits in more than six years. GM sold about 478 million shares Wednesday at $33 each, a price higher than the company and its bankers thought was possible just days ago. An additional 71.7 million shares are expected to be sold by GM's bankers as part of an "overallotment" allowed when sales are stronger than expected. And it sold $4.35 billion in preferred shares. Wednesday afternoon at the Manhattan headquarters of one of the lead bankers, Morgan Stanley, GM executives were greeted by traders and bankers standing and cheering while wearing blue GM T-shirts over their shirts and ties. Buyers of the GM shares included giant pension and hedge funds as well as GM factor...