China's SAIC buys stake in General Motors

BEIJING: General Motors on Thursday confirmed China's leading automaker SAIC Motor Corp had agreed to buy a stake in the US auto giant, as it prepared for one of the largest stock offerings in history.

"We are happy with SAIC's decision to participate in GM's public offering," Tim Lee, president of GM International Operations, said in a statement.

"Our ten joint ventures with SAIC include some of China's most successful automotive operations. SAIC's participation in GM's public offering represents another milestone in our partnership."

SAIC's wholly owned unit SAIC Motor HK Investment Ltd had acquired 15.2 million ordinary shares for 500 million dollars, accounting for about 0.97 percent of GM's total equity, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

GM hopes the listing -- planned for Thursday -- will allow it to break from government ownership, after it was forced into a state-backed bankruptcy reorganisation in June 2009.

GM has set a price of 33 dollars per share for a stock listing that is set to garner at least 20.1 billion dollars.