GM shakes up leadership

GM news and notes

New name for old stock
Shares of the old General Motors Corp. lost half their value Wednesday after the stock symbol was changed to reflect the company's new name, Motors Liquidation Co. Trading of GM stock under the symbol GMGMQ had been suspended since Friday by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which regulates over-the-counter stocks. On Wednesday, the authority changed the symbol and allowed trading to resume. FINRA suspended trading because investors apparently confused the stock with the new GM, which emerged from bankruptcy protection on Friday as a leaner company free of the burdensome debt and contracts that had plagued the old automaker. The new GM is a private company that is majority owned by the U.S. government. It plans to issue new shares perhaps as early as next year. "We certainly were concerned that there was confusion in the marketplace that people weren't sure whether they were buying the new GM when it emerges from bankruptcy or whether they were buying the bankrupt portion of the stock," said Steve Joachim, executive vice president of transparency services for FINRA.
GM to invest in Brazil
GM will invest $1 billion to develop two car models in Brazil, despite woes at the company's headquarters in the United States, the company said Wednesday. The bulk of the investment will go for production of new small- and mid-sized cars at the Gravatai plant in southern Brazil, said Jaime Ardila, president of GM's operations in Brazil and other Mercosur trade bloc nations. Ardila also said the cars would be sold in Brazil and other Mercosur countries, and said GM Brazil might later export them to other nations, such as South Africa. The GM Brazil unit is financially independent from that in the U.S. and has nothing to do with the restructuring there, Ardila said. The project should create at least 1,000 new jobs.
Russian government backs bid for Opel
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will put his backing behind Magna International Inc.'s bid for General Motors Co.'s Opel unit Thursday, a spokesman said, adding to German government support for the deal. Magna, Canada's biggest auto-parts manufacturer, is bidding for Ruesselsheim, Germany-based Opel in partnership with OAO Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, after Merkel's government chose the team as preferred bidder in May. Three other suitors have presented offers. RHJ International SA, a Brussels-based private-equity firm, presented a proposal for Opel to Germany's government Wednesday. State and federal authorities have a say because of loan guarantees they're providing. Talks with Magna have stalled because of Magna's demands to control Russian distribution of GM's Chevrolet brand as well as questions over intellectual property, people familiar with the matter have said.
Associated Press and Bloomberg reports