Kirk Kerkorian’s troubled relationship with GM has finally come to an end with reports coming through that his investment firm Tracinda selling off all stock owned in GM. The Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources “familiar with the matter” as claiming that Tracinda had sold its 4.95% stake for almost $800 million. This comes just one day after a Tracinda dumped 14 million shares in a deal worth approximately $400 million.
Kerkorian was the man behind the plan to form an alliance with Nissan/Renault, which he claimed would help GM compete on a more global scale by exploiting economies of scale. GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner even had meetings with Renault/Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn, but no deal eventuated. After the collapse of talks Kerkorian’s representative on the GM board decided to call it quits, claiming that GM was not in a position to compete with emerging Asian carmakers. Though no official confirmation has been made of the sale we expect an announcement when the market opens for trading.
