American multinational General Motors Company LLC is planning to sell the last of its holdings in Ally Financial Inc. through a private placement of shares. Ally is GM's onetime financing arm. 

According to a report by the New York Times (NY Times), the move would allow GM to avoid a lockup of its shares if Ally were to move forward with a long-awaited initial public offering. An IPO usually requires existing stockholders to hold on to their shares for several months. 

The IPO would let the US federal government, Ally's majority shareholder, sell a part of its 64% stake in the company. The Treasury Department acquired those holdings as part of a series of bailouts, the report said. 

NY Times said that the timing of the IPO however isn't clear. But Ally and GM are counting on rising investor interest in the company. 

Ally reported GM's stake at 132,000 shares in a regulatory filing this year. That represents about 8.5% of its outstanding stock after a share sale earlier this year, the report said.

NY Times, citing a report by The Wall Street Journal, said that the private placement would be valued at USD900 million.