Treasury announces sale of Ally securities

By Martin Crutsinger AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Treasury Department said Tuesday it will sell $2.7 billion in trust-preferred securities it holds in Ally Financial, the latest step to recoup the costs of the $700 billion financial bailout. Treasury hopes to get back more taxpayer money through an initial public offering of the former General Motors finance arm, which received $17.2 billion during the financial crisis. The government owns 74 percent of the company through holdings of common stock. Ally had not paid back any of its support to the government although it has made $2.19 billion in dividend payments on the government's investment, which was made through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The initial sale of the trust-preferred securities is expected to take place later this month. Treasury did not provide a date or how much in securities it would put up in the initial offering. A trust-preferred security is an investment that has characteristics of both a stock and a bond. Four investment banks were selected in February to handle the initial public stock offering. No date has been set for the IPO. Ally makes loans to GM customers and finances dealer inventories. The government first bailed out the company, then known as GMAC, in late 2008 as part or the Bush administration's aid to the U.S. auto industry. The Obama administration provided additional funding in May and December 2009. In December, Treasury officials laid the groundwork for Ally's stock offering by converting more of its investment in the company into common stock, raising Treasury's ownership of Ally from 56 percent to 74 percent. While the Treasury Department has said Ally has made good progress in restructuring its operations, a congressional oversight panel in January criticized Treasury's "hands off" approach toward Ally. The panel noted that Treasury declined to block GM's purchase of Texas-based AmeriCredit even though that financing firm may end up competing against Ally. ---------- AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit and AP reporter Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report. Published: Thu, Mar 3, 2011