General Motors said on July 22 that it would acquire local auto finance company AmeriCredit for about $3.5 billion dollars.
GM said the acquisition could help boost sales and provide a captive financing arm as the firm emerges from a government-financed bankruptcy.
It "supports our efforts to design, build and sell the world's best vehicles by expanding the financing options we can offer to consumers who want to buy GM vehicles," GM chairman CEO Ed Whitacre said.
AmeriCredit, with 3,000 employees in the United States and Canada and 800,000 customers, has about nine billion dollars in business transactions.
Upon completion of the transaction, AmeriCredit intends to also re-enter the leasing business, the company said.
As AmeriCredit already has links with about 4,000 GM dealers, the acquisition will "improve sales penetration rates through coordinated GM branding and targeted customer marketing initiatives."
The U.S. government provided about $50 billion to bail out GM and owns 60.8% of its stock.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
