Ally non-U.S. operations draw interest from GM, banks: source

The auto lender, which is 74-percent owned by the U.S. Treasury after a series of bailouts, received a second round of bids on Friday as part of a sale process announced in May.

Ally, the former lending arm of GM, is selling its operations in Europe, Canada, Latin America and Mexico in an effort to speed up repayment to taxpayers.

General Motors, which is also partly owned by the U.S. Treasury, is interested in Ally's European and Latin American auto loan operations, but not its Canadian unit, the source said. GM disclosed in August that it was bidding for Ally's international operations.

CNBC reported on Tuesday that two Canadian banks - Toronto Dominion Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia , widely known as Scotiabank - were also among the bidders.

TD is already one of North America's largest bank-owned auto lenders after buying Chrysler Financial for $6.3 billion last year.

Ally said in a statement it was "encouraged by the breadth and depth of interest" in its international units. A TD spokesperson declined comment, while representatives at Scotiabank and GM could not be immediately reached for comment.

In May, Residential Capital - Ally's mortgage banking subsidiary - filed for bankruptcy in a bid to protect its parent from lawsuits tied to mortgage-backed securities.

(Reporting by Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina, additional reporting by Cameron French and Deepa Seetharaman; editing by Gary Crosse)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky