Watchdog to review GM buy of AmeriCredit Corp

A government bailout watchdog will review the General Motors Co (GM.N) (GM.UL) $3.5 billion all-cash purchase of auto finance company AmeriCredit Corp (ACF.N), a deal financed with federal bailout money.

Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Treasury Department's corporate bailout program, said in a letter to Sen Charles Grassley obtained by Reuters on Wednesday that auditors for the Troubled Asset Relief Program also want to know what role Treasury officials played in "reviewing, approving or otherwise participating in the AmeriCredit decision."