General Motors Acceptance Corp

In a move that could free up badly needed financing for car buyers, the federal government said Monday that it would provide $5 billion in assistance to automotive lender GMAC as part of the ongoing effort to prop up the nation's faltering auto industry. The Treasury Department said it also agreed to lend as much as $1 billion to General Motors Corp.

It didn't take long for the government bailout of GMAC to filter down to the car lot. General Motors Corp., which has long relied on GMAC to make loans to many of its customers, said Tuesday that it was offering no-interest financing on some vehicles and below-market interest rates for several other models. The deals last through Monday.

Finance company GMAC said it was exploring the sale of parts of its troubled mortgage-lending arm, Residential Capital, and the purchase of an international lending institution. GMAC, 49% owned by General Motors Corp, said it had expressed interest in buying a large non-U.S. mortgage-lending institution. Its goal would be to combine ResCap's local mortgage business with the acquired institution. GMAC did not disclose the name of the lender. ResCap this month posted a $2.

A group of investors led by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has submitted a nonbinding bid of $12.5 billion to $13 billion for a majority stake in General Motors Corp.'s financing arm, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The KKR bid for the General Motors Acceptance Corp. stake, made this month, follows an earlier proposal by hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management and was originally reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Even after taking important steps this week in its turnaround plan, General Motors Corp. has much more to do before returning to profitability and market stability, analysts said Thursday. The beleaguered automaker's announcement Thursday that it had sold a larger majority interest in its commercial mortgage business in an $8.8-billion deal was seen as further evidence that its recovery plan was picking up steam. The sale of 78% of GMAC Commercial Holding Corp.

General Motors Corp. said Tuesday that it might be unable to sell a majority stake in its finance division. The warning came in an annual report that highlighted the myriad risks and financial woes confronting the world's largest automaker. GM has been counting on the sale of a 51% stake in General Motors Acceptance Corp. as a way to raise as much as $15 billion in badly needed cash for the struggling automaker. But GM warned anew Tuesday that a deal might not happen.

Troubled automaker General Motors Corp. may announce as soon as today a decision to sell a controlling stake in its financial services business for about $11 billion, sources familiar with the situation said Sunday. A consortium that includes hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management and the private equity unit of Citigroup is viewed as a front-runner for the stake in General Motors Acceptance Corp.

General Motors Corp. agreed Monday to sell a majority share of its credit arm for $14 billion, a defensive move that analysts said would fund employee buyouts and help the beleaguered automaker's balance sheet. Although GM would gain some much needed cash, it also would give up control of its only profitable division.

General Motors Corp. said the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. had assured it that the buyer of a majority stake in GM's financing unit, General Motors Acceptance Corp., wouldn't be held responsible for GM's pension plan. GM disclosed its agreement with the PBGC in a Securities and Exchange filing. GM also said a unit of PNC Financial Services Group Inc. had joined a Cerberus Capital Management-led consortium to take control of GMAC.

GMAC plans to combine 20 U.S. and Canadian offices into five regional centers and cut about 930 jobs in its auto finance business to trim expenses amid tightening credit markets and heavy losses last year. The job cuts will occur by the end of the year and represent about 15% of the workforce in the auto loan unit. The company was once the finance arm of General Motors Corp.