GMAC, the finance company co-owned by General Motors and by Chrysler’s major stakeholder, Cerberus, has completed its campaign to exchange an equity stake in the company to debt holders. Automotive News reports:
 

The lender said holders of $21.2 billion of debt will swap their stakes for $15.7 billion of new securities plus cash. The exchange will ease GMAC’s debt burden, though the lender fell short of its goal of 75 percent participation in the roughly $38 billion swap, instead getting about 56 percent.

GMAC’s offer required investors to accept less than face value for their holdings. It was designed to enable Detroit-based GMAC to become a bank holding company, allowing it to tap low-cost funding and helping to assure its survival.

The equity swaps also have the effect of reducing the ownership stake in GMAC for both GM and Cerberus, which was one of the requirements of the GMAC transition to a bank holding company, which is what allowed them to qualify for $6 billion in TARP funds earlier this week.