Is GM ready to go public again?

Just a year after it went bankrupt, the auto giant is set to make one of the largest IPOs in history. Too soon?

GM bounced back since 2009, with revenue up 44 percent from a year ago and $1.3 billion in second-quarter profits.
(Image credit: Getty)

If all goes according to plan at General Motors, shares of the company's stock will soon be trading once again on the New York Stock Exchange. The automaker, which declared bankruptcy in 2009 and is today 61 percent owned by the U.S. government, hopes to raise $16 billion in the second-largest IPO in U.S. history. The company is making the move after announcing a $1.3 billion second-quarter profit and a new chief executive. But, with the economy mired in a prolonged slump, critics are wondering whether now is the right time for GM to go public: (Watch a PBS report about the state of GM)

Too soon for GM, not soon enough for Obama: This offering is "earlier than what would be ideal," says automotive analyst Craig Fitzgerald, quoted by ABC News. GM is still in the earliest stages of recovery, and it seems likely that "broader political considerations" — that is, the Obama administration's desire to score a "major victory" ahead of the midterms — are to blame.

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