GM Starts Program to Let Workers, Retirees Buy Shares in Initial Offering

General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker, started a program to allow workers, retirees, dealers and directors in the U.S. and Canada to buy shares in its planned initial public offering, Bloomberg reported.

Participants can register for the program by mail postmarked by Oct. 19 or sign up online by Oct. 22, according to a website run by GM and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which will administer the program. Pete Ternes, a GM spokesman, confirmed the website’s authenticity.

The minimum investment for the program is expected to be $1,000, according to the website. The minimum and maximum number of shares that will be allowed is still being determined, the website said. The Detroit Free Press reported the worker-retiree share program earlier.

GM, 61 percent owned by the U.S. Treasury Department, will seek to raise $8 billion to $10 billion in an IPO in November, a smaller sale than the automaker originally targeted, two people familiar with the matter said in September. The price of the shares hasn’t been set.

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. will lead the offering, according to a Sept. 23 regulatory filing. Barclays Plc, Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Royal Bank of Canada and UBS AG were also listed as underwriters.