GENERAL Motors has announced the sale of a controlling stake in its financial services division – which owns UK-based fleet management company Masterlease – in a multi-billion pound deal.

The deal for a 51% controlling stake in General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) is worth $14 billion (£8 billion).

A consortium that includes hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management and the private equity unit of Citigroup will buy the stake.

Last year, the car-building division of GM lost $9.7 billion but GMAC produced a profit of $2.8 billion.

Masterlease, a subsidiary of GMAC, has it headquarters in Birmingham and operates about 200,000 vehicles in 14 countries.

No-one from Masterlease was available for comment as Fleet News went to press but earlier this year, when commenting on growing speculation that GMAC was up for sale, the company’s chief executive officer Nick Brownrigg said: ‘It is our parent company, not Masterlease itself, that is directly affected.’

Announcing the move in Detroit, GM chairman Rick Wagoner said: ‘We look forward to working with Cerberus to maintain and grow GMAC’s traditional strong performance and contribution to the GM family. This agreement creates a stronger GMAC while preserving the mutually beneficial relationship between GM and GMAC.’

Wagoner said the move was ‘designed to immediately improve our competitiveness and position GM for long-term success’.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval in the US and is likely to be completed by the fourth quarter of the year.