Exclusive - GM turns to banks to help deal with activist investor group
By Ben Klayman and Soyoung Kim
DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors Co has turned to two investment banks to help it come up with a response to a shareholder group demanding $8 billion (5 billion pounds) in stock buybacks and a seat on the board of the No. 1 U.S. automaker, the company told Reuters.
The automaker is working with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc for advice on how it should deal with former U.S. auto task force member Harry Wilson and four hedge funds that are pushing for the company to dip into its $25 billion in cash, GM said on Thursday.
Under the proposal by the activist group, Wilson would be elected to the board at GM's annual meeting in June.
"We are working with a set of advisors including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley," GM said in a statement in response to Reuters.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
Wilson, 43, has joined with David Tepper's Appaloosa Management and three other hedge funds: Taconic Capital Advisors, Hayman Capital Management and HG Vora Capital Management, which together own about 31.2 million shares, or 1.9 percent of GM stock.
Shareholders have been pressing GM to return more capital to them, and the automaker responded last week by announcing plans to boost its dividend by 20 percent.
GM Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens also indicated more could be coming, telling Reuters on Feb. 4 that the company would look at returning more capital to investors as early as the second half of this year once it resolves legal issues tied to the recall of a defective ignition switch.
Both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have historically worked closely with the Detroit automaker.
Morgan Stanley helped GM during bankruptcy restructuring in 2009 and its initial public offering the following year, and GM President Dan Ammann is a former Morgan Stanley banker. Goldman Sachs advised GM on its partnership with French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen.
GM shares were up 0.7 percent at $37.93 on Thursday afternoon.
(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
