GM announced earlier it would raise the offering price to $32 to $33 per share, up from a previously announced range of $26 to $29 per share.
GM said in a statement it would increase the planned offering of common stock to 478 million shares from the previously expected 365 million shares, a sign of stronger-than-expected demand for a stake in the automaker that is just 16 months out of bankruptcy protection.
The move, coupled with an expected stock price of up to $33 per share, would bring the U.S. government closer to getting back the $50 billion it spent bailing out GM last year. It could also make GM's IPO the largest in history for a U.S.-based company.
GM plans to finalize the IPO share price on Wednesday. The share price is targeted at $32 to $33 per share.
The revised terms of the IPO could raise as much as $22.7 billion and take U.S. government ownership of the automaker down to as little as 33 percent from 61 percent.
The moves came after GM received orders worth about $70 billion for the common stock portion of the offering as of late Tuesday, a source familiar with the situation said.
The strong demand is good news for U.S. taxpayers and the Treasury, which is likely to take in more than $10 billion from the IPO proceeds while retaining a significant equity stake in the company. The Obama administration has said it would need to ultimately get $36 billion to break even, including $6 billion in pre-bankruptcy help given to GM and $30.1 billion in Chapter 11 exit financing.
Others have said the total taxpayer help extended to GM is worth closer to $50 billion.
If GM's stock price rises in the months and years after the offering, taxpayers will come closer to the break-even point. GM shares are expected to begin trading on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges Thursday.
The strong Wall Street reception for GM represents a win for the Obama administration after it chose to restructure GM in an unpopular, 2009 taxpayer-funded bankruptcy that left the automaker with the stigma that it had become "Government Motors."
