GM said to be planning sale of its stake in Ally Financial

General Motors Co. is planning to sell its stake in Ally Financial Inc., the auto lender majority owned by U.S. taxpayers, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.

Selling now would allow GM to avoid a months-long lockup tied to Ally’s initial public offering, according to the person, who asked to remain anonymous because the deal isn’t public. The automaker also may seek to tap demand for Ally’s shares after the lender’s private placement that raised $1.3 billion this year was oversubscribed, the person said. That deal diluted GM’s stake from about 9.9% to 8.5%, according to data from regulatory filings.

Ally, formerly known as GMAC, was once the in-house financing arm of GM. The pending sale was reported by the Wall Street Journal, which valued the transaction at about $900 million. The U.S. stake equaled about 64% as of Nov. 20, according to the company.

GM’s stake is held indirectly in an independent trust, according to the automaker’s quarterly securities filing. The stake was required to be sold by Dec. 24 before the Federal Reserve granted a two-year extension in October. Both companies are based in Detroit.

Spokesmen for Ally and GM said the companies had no comment on the sale.