GM Isn't Government-Owned Anymore

Published on April 7, 2015 in News by Frédérick Boucher-Gaulin

In 2009, the Canadian government and the province of Ontario bought parts of American giant GM in order to help make sure it wouldn’t go under. This was done to save many jobs in our country, and the American government also bought a substantial number of shares in the company.

With this influx of money, GM managed to get itself out of debt, and then started making money again. In the following years, the Ontario and American governments sold their shares gradually; the U.S. government sold their last shares in 2013. This left Canada as the only government shareholder remaining, with about 73.4 million shares.

Our government finally got rid of their stake in GM. When the transaction is completed on Friday with Goldman Sachs, Canada will be $2.7 billion USD richer, which will gradually be converted into Canadian money.

With this transaction, GM isn’t owned by any governments anymore; the company is now wholely owned by private parties.