GM public float likely in 2010

WASHINGTON: A restructured General Motors Corp will get the remaining $20 billion in government bankruptcy financing over the rest of this year and could be ready to launch an initial public stock offering in early 2010, a senior US official said.

Steven Rattner, who heads the Obama administration's autos task force, said he was confident that a US bankruptcy judge's decision on Sunday to allow the sale of the automaker's best assets to a "New GM" would withstand appeals.

The decision will clear the path for the company to emerge from bankruptcy court in coming weeks and will allow the US Treasury Department to focus on divesting its stake, Rattner told reporters on a conference call. The bankruptcy judge issued a four-day stay of the sale order, allowing for possible appeals.