General Motors buying Ally assets in Europe, China, Latin America General Motors Co. said Wednesday that it will buy Ally Financial Inc.'s operations in Europe, China and Latin America as it tries to build a global finance unit to make low-interest car loans and boost sales. The auto giant's U.S. loan business, GM Financial, will pay $4.25 billion for the Ally assets, helping GM to better compete in markets where other automakers already have their own loan operations. Automakers with their own finance arms often subsidize loans and leases to boost sales. The deal, which still must be approved by regulators, is expected to close in stages next year. Ally will get a $550-million premium over the book value of the assets, which was $3.7 billion in the third quarter, the company said. Ally, which was GM's financial arm until it was taken over by the U.S. government in the 2008 banking industry meltdown, is selling off assets to raise money to repay the government for a $17.2-billion bailout. So far Ally has repaid $5.8 billion, leaving a balance of $11.4 billion. The company used to be called GMAC Financial Services. The move will help GM by restoring a unit that once was highly profitable before the meltdown, Argus Research analyst Bill Selesky said. It also will help GM grow in countries in which the middle class is expanding, he said. "They believe that future growth will largely be determined by growth in emerging-market economies," Selesky said. They believe this is where the future of auto lending is going, to higher-growth geographies. GM will give $2 billion to GM Financial to make the purchase, the automaker said in a statement. The deal includes Ally's operations in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. It also includes Ally's 40% interest in a Chinese joint venture auto financing company.