[Hokimjers]

LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,4886145.story

General Motors Co. is on the road to the biggest-ever initial public stock offering.

The Detroit automaker raised $15.8 billion late Wednesday and is expected to sell additional shares to bring the total to as much as $23.1 billion Thursday when the stock goes public in its highly anticipated debut.

The company decided late Wednesday to price the shares at $33.

...

Combined with the $9.5 billion that GM has repaid to the Treasury Department or soon will, taxpayers could recoup about $23 billion of the nearly $50 billion the federal government forked over to rescue GM last year.

The offering would reduce the government's ownership stake to as low as 33% from 61%. President Obama called the deal a "major milestone in the turnaround of not just an iconic company but the entire American auto industry."

"Supporting the American auto industry required tough decisions and shared sacrifices, but it helped save jobs, rescue an industry at the heart of America's manufacturing sector and make it more competitive for the future," Obama said in prepared remarks.

Taxpayers, though, will still be waiting awhile to recoup the rest of the money spent to bail out the company. Despite the big demand and the higher price, shares would have to hit nearly $53 a share before the debt could be fully repaid.