Bankrupt automaker may file for IPO next year, says Obama adviser

NEW YORK: General Motors Corp, the bankrupt automaker selling most of its assets to the US government, may file for an initial public offering of its stock in 2010, said an adviser to the Obama administration's auto task force.

GM was in bankruptcy court seeking approval to sell most of its assets to the Treasury, which is paying for the company with the more than $27 billion in loans it has made to the automaker.

"We plan to sell our stake at some point," Harry Wilson, the auto task force adviser, testified yesterday, saying the government won't make an open-ended commitment to fund GM. "We anticipate an IPO sometime in 2010."