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GMAC Will Change the Name of Its Bank
By APARAJITA SAHA-BUBNA
GMAC LLC, starting Friday, will rename its bank Ally Bank.
GMAC's conversion to a bank holding company in December formed the central plank of its survival plan, as prohibitive borrowing costs fueled by the funding freeze in credit markets and losses piling up at its auto-finance and mortgage units forced the lender to drastically shrink its lending operations in 2008.
The company's executives hope that the rebranding of GMAC Bank will spur retail deposit growth, a key funding source for GMAC amid the continuing credit squeeze. Aside from federal help, GMAC LLC, the lender affiliated with
General Motors Corp., has few avenues to raise capital.
The name change marks a shift away from the GMAC brand that underscored the lender's association with the auto maker. GMAC, set up in 1919 to provide financing to buyers of GM vehicles, initially was an acronym for General Motors Acceptance Corp.
"We certainly value our relationship with GM and GM continues to be an important customer," said Sanjay Gupta, GMAC's chief marketing officer. "In addition to that, GMAC wants to grow as a bank holding company. The launch of Ally Bank provides a new platform to increase deposits."
The new name was culled from a shortlist of about a dozen names. "Ally conveys the sense of a trusted partner, the attributes we are trying to convey" Mr. Gupta said.
GMAC is jointly owned by GM and an investor group led by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP. The auto maker and the investor group will significantly scale back their ownership in GMAC by the end of this month as a condition of the lender becoming a bank holding company.
In 2006, GM sold a 51% stake in GMAC to the Cerberus-led group for about $14 billion. The sale was intended to separate GMAC, a steady profit center, from plunging credit ratings at the auto maker. At the time, as it is now, GM was struggling with high labor costs and slumping sales. The separation was intended to preserve GMAC's high-grade credit ratings so that GMAC could borrow funds at a competitive rate in the credit markets, a critical requirement for a lender. GMAC's mortgage unit, Residential Capital LLC, was also separated from GM, becoming a part of the separated GMAC.
After the Cerberus deal, GMAC dropped the full form of its name, and was known as GMAC LLC. GMAC may use the GMAC LLC brand until 2016, according to an agreement struck in 2006.
GMAC is awaiting federal funds, which might be granted as early as Saturday, after the company assumed the mantle of lender for Chrysler LLC vehicles. GMAC, after its bank registration, got $5 billion under the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. In exchange, the Treasury received GMAC preferred stock.
The financial support it receives from the government would strengthen GMAC's capital position. The lender has an $11.5 billion capital hole to fill under the stress-test results.
Write to Aparajita Saha-Bubna at
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124234797467422011.html