TORONTO - General Motors has filed the first batch of paperwork needed to sell its stock to the public and the automaker says it plans to trade its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
"We intend to apply to have our common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange," the company said in its registration statement, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
The company said the U.S. government and other stakeholders will sell common shares worth $100 million, and GM will sell preferred shares worth $100 million. Those numbers are rough estimates and the amount raised in the actual stock sale is expected to be much higher.
The company did not specify how much its shares will sell for and GM Canada spokesman Tony LaRocca said the automaker could not provide more details for the time being.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said last week that Ottawa was "urging" GM to list its shares on the TSX.
"I certainly expect the shares to be listed in Toronto. That is, I think, a reasonable expectation on behalf of the people of Canada since we are a major shareholder in the company," Flaherty said on Friday.
This is the first step to the company selling its stock publicly again for the first time since it entered bankruptcy protection in early 2009.
GM delisted its shares from the New York Stock Exchange in early 2009 when the company began a massive reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. As part of its restructuring, the company accepted billions of dollars in aid from the American, Canadian and Ontario governments.
In exchange, Ottawa took an eight per cent stake in the automaker and Ontario took another four per cent after they together lent it $10.5 billion. About $9 billion of that loan was converted to equity when the so-called "new GM" emerged from bankruptcy protection, while the rest has been paid back.
The American government, meanwhile, lent GM US$50 billion in exchange for 61 per cent of the company.
GM's outgoing CEO, Ed Whitacre, has said the company is eager to begin selling its shares publicly so it can end its dependence on the government. Whitacre wants the company to shed its "Government Motors" moniker because it's hurting sales and the company's image.
GM announced Thursday that Whitacre will step down as CEO on Sept. 1 and be replaced by board member Daniel Akerson.
A GM IPO could be the largest in U.S. history. It would have to bring in US$70 billion to pay back all of GM's stakeholders. That would be more than Ford's market value of roughly $44 billion, but less than Toyota's total market value of about $113 billion.
Both Ottawa and the Ontario government have said they haven't decided yet whether they'll put their stakes in GM up for sale immediately.
Meanwhile, Washington has said it plans to sell some of its stake right away.
Last week, GM reported that it earned US$1.33 billion in the second quarter. This was the second straight quarterly profit for the Detroit automaker, which made US$865 million in the first quarter. GM's second-quarter revenue totalled $33.2 billion, up 5.3 per cent from the first quarter on growing sales in every region except Europe.
Since the restructuring, GM has eliminated all but four of its brands and has transformed itself into a much leaner, more profitable company.
GM Canada employs about 9,000 people at its Ontario-based operations. The company operates assembly plants in Oshawa and Ingersoll and parts plants in St. Catharines and Windsor.
-- With files from The Associated Press
