After several days of rumors and speculation, General Motors filed its long-awaited IPO prospectus with the SEC on Wednesday afternoon, officially setting the wheels in motion for an IPO later this year. As is customary, the initial S-1 filing did not specify the number of common shares to be sold or a proposed price range; these specifics will be contained in a future amendment closer to the pricing of the deal. That said, with estimates ranging from $10-$20 billion, the GM IPO has the potential to rank among the 10 largest global deals in history. It appears that former creditors of the "old" GM, including the US Treasury, will recieve the proceeds from the sale of common shares, while the operating company ("new" GM) will raise new capital for general corporate purposes in a preferred stock offering. The Detroit, MI-based company, which was founded in 1908 and booked $123 billion in sales over the last 12 months, plans to list its shares on both the NYSE and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Citi are the lead underwriters on the deal.
