More details will be out later today or tomorrow when GM makes its final filing for its initial stock offering, but reports on the IPO pricing make it look unlikely taxpayers will ever get back all of the more than $50 billion GM bailout.  GM is expected to set a target price between $26 and $29 for its shares and sell about $10 billion worth when it becomes a public company later this month, say several reports citing unidentified people who know about it. That would value the company at about $46 billion, about the same as Ford Motor. Thus, GM shares would need to more than double in subsequent sales over time for the bailout to be returned in full.  The U.S. government is expected to sell enough shares in the IPO to cut its stake from 61% to around 43%, the reports say, and hold the rest in hopes of a higher price later -- though, of course, stock prices go both ways. Taxpayers will get the biggest share of the IPO's $10 billion, but will be left a long way from the more than $40 billion still owed on the $50 billion bailout.  GM spokesman Greg Martin declined to comment on the reports. The IPO is tentatively set for Nov. 18 and final terms of the sales, including a price target, will be made public later today or tomorrow when GM files its final registration statement with the government.  Some experts have worried that the IPO will be too big and too soon to get a good price. But Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl put out this assessment today: "Broadly speaking, this feels about right. Not so big as to push down the price, yet big enough to be meaningful. And, this is much smaller than first reported." But Anwyl remains worried about the timing. "I still think the IPO is timed about a year too early; extra time is needed to re-establish credibility."  GM now is privately owned by the U.S. government, a UAW health care trust, the Canadian and Ontario governments and pre-bankruptcy GM bondholders. The bondholders will not participate in the IPO. The AP, quoting unidentified sources, says the Canadian governments will cut their stake from 11.7% to 9.6%, while the UAW trust will sell enough to cut its stake from 17.5% to 15%.  A pre-IPO stock split is likely.  Together, those owners hold about 500 million shares, and the U.S. government's stake is about 304 million. But a 3-1 or 4-1 stock split is expected before the IPO, the Detroit Free Press has reported, increasing the number of shares to at least 1.5 billion.  Road shows to market the shares to investors will start tomorrow and GM will have two road-show teams, the Free Press reports. Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell will lead one; Vice Chairman Steve Girsky will lead the other. GM CEO Dan Akerson will help both teams.  GM will not make any money in the IPO, but will sell, at the same time, roughly $3 billion worth of preferred stock that will convert to common stock in 2013, the unidentified people said. Such shares pay a set dividend and are considered more like bonds. GM will use the money from their sale to repay debt and make pension payments.  No matter whether GM, the government, investors or the taxpayers make money on this issue, one group is sure to: the bankers. "Apart from millions in fees generated from administering GM's IPO -- even at the reduced commissions agreed upon by the numerous investment banks involved -- bankers and brokerages all intend to profit in multifarious fashion as the government unwinds its GM stake in a financial dance that probably will last for years," said Edmunds' AutoObserver.com editor Bill Visnic in a statement today.
GM IPO pricing: Getting bailout money back unlikely - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive - USATODAY.com