US scouts Wall Street bankers to advise on GM IPO: Report

NEW YORK: The US Treasury Department is interviewing Wall Street bankers to select an advisor for an initial share sale offer of General Motors Corp, a media report said.

Greenhill & Co, Lazard Ltd and Perella Weinberg Partners are among the competing firms for the advisory role, The Wall Street Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.

The US holds a 61 per cent stake in GM after its $50 billion bailout of the auto maker last year. Under the deal, GM was to directly repay a $6.7 billion loan, which it did last month.

The rest of the US investment is in the form of an equity stake that the government can start selling off after GM launches an IPO.

In addition to the stake held by the US government, the United Auto Workers owns 18 per cent through a trust for retiree health care, the Canadian government has 12 per cent and GM's bondholders have 10 per cent.

"While an initial public offering is still several months away at the earliest, the investment-banker pitches, known as a "bake-off", held this past week represent the most concrete steps the US has taken to recoup its bailout stake," the WSJ said.

The Obama administration is hopeful GM will go public this year, the newspaper reported.