GMAC Completes Majority Share Sale to Cerberus
Private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP and other investors completed the purchase of a 51 percent stake in General Motors Corp.’s financial unit, GMAC, for about $14 billion in cash, to be paid over three years.
The deal was struck in April and completed on Nov. 30. The acquisition was led by Cerberus, along with Citigroup Inc. and Aozora Bank Ltd.
GM board members approved the sale, which they say will help support the company’s automotive operations and improve GMAC’s access to cost-effective funding.
GM’s automotive unit has been struggling. The completion of the deal came on the same day investor Kirk Kerkorian sold 14 million shares of GM stock. Kerkorian sold another 14 million–share block of stock a week earlier. As a result, the Beverly Hills investor’s ownership stake in GM has been reduced from nearly 10 percent earlier this year to less than 5 percent, according to published reports.
GMAC spokesperson Mike Stoller said the acquisition will be beneficial to the company overall but said he anticipates no changes for GMAC’s commercial finance customers. “It’s a real positive for GMAC,” he said. “There shouldn’t be any direct effect in terms of our commercial finance business.”
GMAC Financial Services includes GMAC Commercial Finance, which provides financial services such as asset-based lending, equipment finance/leasing, structured finance, factoring and supplier early payment services to middle-market clients in several industries, including apparel and textiles.
The New York–based company recently hired Fred K. Gaylord as senior vice president and senior business development officer for its commercial services division, West Coast region, working out of the company’s Los Angeles office. —Alison A. Nieder
