Canada’s Federal Government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has officially unloaded its remaining 73.4-million shares in General Motors.
The Harper Government sold the remaining shares on Monday to Goldman-Sachs & Co, which were valued at about $2.69-billion based on the $36.66 closing price that day.
The sale of the shares marks the end of GM’s Canadian government ownership, a period which started in 2009 when the U.S., Canada, and the Ontario government purchased shares to help in the company’s restructuring.
Ontario sold its share back in February, while the U.S. shed its last stake in December, 2013, taking a $10.5-billion loss. With Canada having divulged its remain stake, GM is now officially free from all federal and provincial government ownership in North-America.
“With today’s announcement, we have eliminated a market exposure for Canadian taxpayers and returned GM to private sector ownership, having supported its continued contribution to the Canadian economy,” said Joe Oliver, Canada’s Minister of Finance.
“We never believed the government should be a shareholder of a private sector company for an indefinite period of time. Our investment in GM was always meant to be temporary.”
And now we can officially say: “Government Motors” is dead. Long live General Motors.
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