(Reuters) - Hedge fund Greenlight Capital Inc urged General Motors Co shareholders to back its proposal to split the automaker's common stock into two classes, and vote for its three director nominees to GM's board at a shareholder meeting next month.
The plan to split GM's stock could unlock $14 billion-$40 billion in shareholder value, Greenlight manager David Einhorn said in a letter to GM's shareholders.
Greenlight Capital said GM has generated a meager 15 percent total return for shareholders, or barely 2 percent per year, since its initial public offering in late 2010.
Over the same period GM's competitors BMW AG, Daimler AG and Toyota Motor Corp have nearly doubled shareholders' investment, in line with the 132 percent return by the S&P 500, the hedge fund said in the letter.
Greenlight said splitting GM's stock could lead to a 27-79 percent appreciation in its share price.
GM was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Greenlight Capital, which owns a 3.6 percent stake in GM, nominated three directors to the company's board last month.
GM has rebuffed Einhorn's proposal, saying it would not help the automaker "sell more cars, drive higher profitability, or generate greater cash flow." Both Moody's and Standard & Poor's have declared such a structure could hurt its credit rating.
(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Supriya Kurane)
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