GM to buy Ally Financial unit for US$4.2b

General Motors’ financing arm GM Financial has agreed to pay about US$4.2 billion for the European and Latin American car lending operations of Ally Financial, as it looks to extend its in-house financing to boost sales.

Ally, which is 74 per cent owned by the US government, announced the plan to sell its international operations in May, in an effort to speed up the repayment of bailout funds. The company is focusing on its US business and has already sold operations in Canada and Mexico.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1088180/gm-buy-ally-financial-unit-us42b