The Treasury Department said on Thursday that it had sold $3 billion worth of its shares in Ally Financial, bringing taxpayers’ stake in the auto lender below 50 percent.
The Treasury priced a sale of 410,000 shares of Ally at $7,375 each, according to the statement, reducing the government’s stake to 37 percent from 64 percent. Ally, the former financing arm of General Motors, received a $17.2 billion rescue in the financial crisis.
With the latest sale, the government will have recovered about $15.3 billion, or 89 percent of that bailout, the Treasury said. The government did not disclose the names of the institutional buyers that participated in the deal.
The sale, conducted as a private placement, helps resolve questions about how the government would dispose of its Ally stake. Ally had long been expected to hold an initial public offering.
On Thursday, the Treasury left open the possibility of an offering, saying the company might pursue “a public offering, private sale of its common shares, or other alternatives.â€
“This is a very positive outcome for Ally and for the U.S. taxpayer, and the strong investor interest is a testament to the significant transformation of the company,†Michael A. Carpenter, the chief executive of Ally, said in a statement on Thursday.
In December, General Motors sold the last of its holdings in Ally, an 8.5 percent stake, through a $900 million private placement.
Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch served as the placement agents in Ally’s sale this week. Lazard is providing financial advice to the Treasury.
