US automotive giant General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is gearing up to take part in the race for financial and insurance solutions provider Ally Financial Inc’s European and Latin American auto-lending units, Bloomberg reported today, quoting three people in the know.
The sources, which said that GM plans to make a bid this week, would not be identified as the discussions were not public, Bloomberg said. Ally is shedding its units outside the US to secure capital to pay off rescue funds extended by the US government. Interested parties are invited to make offers until tomorrow, according to the insiders.
In an e-mail to Bloomberg, GM reiterated its interest in certain foreign assets of Ally but would not elaborate further amid the ongoing procedures. An Ally spokeswoman suggested a certain level of interest in the firm’s international operations when reached by the agency but would not comment further either. According to Bloomberg’s sources, nearly 30 parties have expressed interest. GM’s CEO, Dan Akerson, had said in an interview earlier this year that his company was a “natural buyer” for the businesses outside the US.
Ally said in May that the assets of its Latin American and European lending operations aggregated USD16.4bn (EUR12.6bn) in assets, which is more than GM’s finance arm’s USD14.6bn as at end-June.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, GM is not interested in Ally’s business in Canada, as it already has finance operations in the country and there is competition from local lenders, or in its Mexican automotive insurance unit.
