DETROIT -- General Motors is planning a sale of preferred stock along with its initial public offering of common stock before the end of the year.  According to a report by "Bloomberg" citing a source familiar with a regulatory filing by the automaker, GM hopes to raise between 12 and 16-billion dollars in the IPO, which would be the second largest IPO in American history.

According to the report, GM plans to sell its shares on both the New York and Toronto stock exchanges, and to shed at least enough of the U.S. Treasury's stake in the company to get below 50-percent government ownership.