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it was straight equity. basically the US government functioned as a corporate raider, buying a company with strong pieces that was otherwise floundering. unlike a KKR or Ichan, of course, the government invested for the long term growth potential of the company. GM was a seriously undervalued asset, once certain stumbling blocks were removed (like a slight improvement in the economy, and some passed on legacy costs from poorly (form the perspective of the company, not the worker) negotiated contracts.) the company had some great technology in the pipeline (the Volt) and a massive market share. pare the company down, reduce non-useful sectors, and pay off a huge chunk of the legacy costs, and you start to see a future. look at Ford, at the same time the government took over GM, ford was trading at $1.50. since then it's up 1500%. personally, I wish they'd waited another 6 months for the IPO, I think the stock will be in the 40s by then. and yes, I have put my money where my mouth is, I bought some shares this week. the market in general is trending upwards, and the auto market as well (Tesla is up 150% since their IPO this summer) another two quarters of solid growth in GM would have done a lot to restore confidence.
and the bankster charade you refer to was also a lot of equity deals, any firm taking TARP money included equity in the deal. the government bought AIG, for instance, at pennies on the dollar, sold off some profitable parts and made a profit on the deal. same thing would have happened to AIG in bankruptcy, but mush more slowly, and taking others down with it. so far, TARP has made money on long term investments disposed of. maybe, of course, only the valuable assets have been sold, and UST is holding hundreds of billions of junk at this time, but it's doing well so far.
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