GM sells stake in real estate unit
New York: General Motors Corp has sold a large part of its commercial real estate business to private investors for $1.5 billion in cash to pay for employee buyouts and improve its financial position. The investors include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Five Mile Capital Partners LLC and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, also took up the $7.3 billion debt owed by the unit, GMAC Commercial Holding, to its parent company, General Motors Acceptance Corp. (GMAC).

GM shares were up 2 cents at $22.03 on the New York Stock Exchange. Bond traders said the deal was widely expected and had no impact on GM's bond price. The commercial real estate business represents only a small piece of GMAC, GM's finance arm, whose residential real estate and auto financing units are much larger profit generators.
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Google gets inclusion in S&P 500, shares jump
San Francisco: Google Inc is taking the place of oil and gas producer Burlington Resources Inc. in the S&P 500 Index, Standard & Poor's said. The news sent Google's stock up 9 per cent.

This means that many portfolio managers will have to add Google shares to their holdings. Many index funds base investments on whether a stock is included in the S&P 500, a key stock market barometer. The move adds some volatility to the index and provides new respectability for Google that has upset Wall Street since going public in August 2004 with policies such as refusing to issue financial forecasts.

Google's market value of $101.1 billion would make it the 19th-largest member of the S&P 500 based on Thursday's closing prices. Exxon Mobil Corp. with a market value of $374 billion, is the largest member.
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