国际英语新闻：GM files paperwork for IPO

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- General Motors Co. has filed paperwork Thursday for holding a public stock offering, according to the Washington Post.

The public offering of stock highlights remarkable turnaround of the corporation after its bankruptcy last year and also paves the way for the U.S. government to exit the automobile business.

"We want the government out. Period," outgoing GM CEO Edward Whitacre Jr. said earlier this month in emphasizing the need to get rid of the "Government Motors" label.

General Motors acting chief executive Ed Whitacre Jr. announces he will become permanent chairman and Chief Executive Officer during a news conference at GM World Headquarters in Detroit, Michigan January 25, 2010.

Whitacre said the Treasury Department will shrink its 61-percent stake to under 50 percent during the first sale -- but he said he hoped it was far more than that.

The government swapped about 43 billion dollars of its 50 billion dollars government bailout for its majority stake in the Detroit automaker.

The move will allow GM to begin selling shares before year's end, and will come a day after the company reports its second-quarter results.