If the AmeriCredit acquisition works as General Motors Co. intends, GM dealers will lease more vehicles and arrange more loans for buyers with low credit scores.

GM’s acquisition of AmeriCredit Corp., scheduled to close Friday, Oct. 1, provides the automaker with a captive finance arm once again. The $3.5 billion deal should lead to higher vehicle sales for both GM and dealerships, representatives of each told Automotive News.

“If we get some incentivized leases out there that are a little bit more aggressive and a little more subprime financing, it would certainly help our volume,” said Tim Copenhaver, dealer principal at Champion Chevrolet-Cadillac in Johnson City, Tenn.

Two-plus years ago, some of those subprime customers could buy vehicles easily despite their troubled credit, Copenhaver said. But their financing options haven’t recovered in today’s market.

“Daily, we have some subprime customers who we can’t get qualified because there’s just nowhere to go with the paper,” Copenhaver said.

GM spokeswoman Annalisa Bluhm said the acquisition of AmeriCredit will give dealerships a better range of financing options for nonprime customers, plus more leasing ability.

“Our dealers have been quite vocal: Give me a program where I can sell cars,” Bluhm said.

Higher sales are likely, she said, though GM did not share projections. About 40 percent of consumers have credit scores of less than 680, which is considered below prime.

“That’s huge,” Bluhm said, adding that AmeriCredit has proved it can manage the risk effectively.

A regional lease program will launch by March, although Bluhm said details on regions, brands and nameplates have to be worked out.

AmeriCredit will be renamed General Motors Financial Co. but will continue to operate as AmeriCredit for its non-GM dealer customers. Non-GM business provides the majority of AmeriCredit’s volume — almost two-thirds of the lender’s overall originations and about 55 percent of new-vehicle originations, Bluhm said.

GM’s 4,500 dealerships are not required to use GM Financial, and the automaker is continuing its relationship with Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC Financial Services. Ally will continue to focus on prime customers and wholesale financing for dealers, Bluhm said.

That was good news to Copenhaver, who said, “We do a ton of business with Ally and get wonderful service.”

General Motors Co.’s acquisition of auto finance company AmeriCredit Corp. closes on Friday, Oct.1.

Earlier today AmeriCredit stockholders approved the all-cash transaction of approximately $3.5 billion, GM said in a statement. The tentative acquisition was announced in July, Automotive News reported.

When the deal closes on Friday, AmeriCredit will be renamed General Motors Financial Inc. It will expand GM’s financing and leasing capabilities. For example, one of the first financing initiatives will be a regional lease program that will be launched in the first quarter of 2011.

“This acquisition allows GM to offer an enhanced range of solutions for our customers and dealers and establishes an important strategic capability for GM,” said Chris Liddell, GM vice chairman and CFO. “The speed by which this transaction occurred is evidence of how we are running GM today. We identified an opportunity and moved quickly to provide solutions for customers and dealers.”

“While the name is changing, our commitment to our customers and dealers remains paramount,” said AmeriCredit CEO Dan Berce. “We are excited to become a member of the GM family and look forward to the new opportunities this provides us.”

AmeriCredit already has relationships with about 4,000 GM dealers and 800,000 customers. The finance company has 3,000 employees in the United States and Canada and $9 billion in auto receivables.

BATON ROUGE, La. — Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced today that independent automobile finance company AmeriCredit Corp. will utilize its AppOne platform to help further expand loan originations in the auto finance market.

AmeriCredit, which has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by General Motors, will form the core of a new GM captive financing arm.

AppOne automates the indirect lending, credit approval and compliance processes for lenders and the auto, RV and marine dealers they work with.

“The AppOne platform allows us to expand loan originations through a network of independent dealers while mitigating certain risks associated with auto lending,” said Kyle Birch, executive vice president of dealer services, at AmeriCredit.

“We value our relationship with AmeriCredit. This is very positive news for our dealer customers, who are continually looking to build relationships with lending sources,” said Lee Domingue, CEO of indirect lending at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings upgraded the long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of AmeriCredit Corp. to ‘B+’ from ‘B-’ and the senior debt rating to ‘BB-/RR3′ from ‘B/RR3′. The rating outlook is stable. Approximately $532.6 million of debt, at par, is affected by this action.

The ratings firm said the upgrade reflects AmeriCredit’s improved credit trends, profitability prospects, capitalization and access to market liquidity. Tighter underwriting standards since March 2008 have combined with strong used-car recovery values and a stabilizing economic environment to yield an improvement in year-over-year net loss rates, despite continued portfolio contraction. Poorer performing 2006 and 2007 vintages are nearing peak loss rates and stronger 2008 and 2009 vintages are contributing to better overall portfolio performance. Net charge-offs in the March 31, 2010 quarter were 7.6 percent compared to 7.8 percent a year ago. Fitch said it expects this trend will continue over the balance of calendar 2010.

Earnings through the first nine months of fiscal 2010 amounted to $135 million compared to a net loss of $42.7 million in the comparable 2009 period. While net finance charge income has declined due to 28.1 percent contraction in the average receivable portfolio, net margins have grown 110 basis points year-over-year with higher average annual percentage rates and a lower cost of funds, given interest rate levels. Fitch expects AmeriCredit to remain solidly profitable.

AmeriCredit’s leverage ratio, as measured by debt-to-equity, has declined from 7.5 times (x) at fiscal year-end 2008 to 3.3x at March 31, 2010. Receivable contraction, debt repurchases, a debt exchange, positive earnings, and higher enhancement levels on secured borrowings have all contributed to this reduction. Fitch believes leverage will continue to decline until the portfolio troughs later in 2010, before gradually rising to the low-to-mid 5.0x range over time. AmeriCredit’s leverage is not expected to return to historical levels over the medium-term.

The company’s access to liquidity has improved significantly in recent quarters with the upsizing and extension of its primary warehouse facility in February 2010 and with the completion of three asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions, aggregating $1.4 billion, since January 2010.

AmeriCredit’s most recent senior subordinate transaction, completed in May, was its first transaction after the expiration of the TALF program. The company sold $600 million of debt, with a weighted average cost of funds of 3.8 percent, down through the ‘BB’ notes. AmeriCredit was also able to complete a $200 million bond insured transaction in March, which was not TALF-eligible, its first wrapped deal since May 2008. While credit spreads remain higher than historical levels, spreads have tightened significantly in recent quarters. Fitch views the company’s access to ABS market liquidity favorably.

The stable outlook reflects Fitch’s expectation for favorable credit comparisons on a year-over-year basis, consistent earnings generation, adequate liquidity relative to planned origination targets, the retention of sufficient capitalization for the rating category, and economically attractive access to the ABS markets.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Touting year-over-year improvements in originations, credit performance and earnings, AmeriCredit officials say the company is in a good position to rebuild its business in 2010.

The subprime lender earned $46 million during the December quarter, compared to a net lost of $35 million in the year-ago quarter. Originations were up from $229 million in the September quarter to $379 million, while credit losses decreased from 9.5 percent last year to 8.9 percent.

Additionally, the company saw significant moderation in the rate of seasonal deterioration in credit performance from the September 2009 to December 2009 quarter compared to the same periods in 2008 and 2007, with losses for the quarter increasing 50 basis points during the recent period compared to the sequential increases of approximately 220 basis points in 2008 and 150 basis points in 2007.

“Several factors are driving our improved credit results,” said Dan Berce, the company’s president and CEO. “First, deterioration in the jobs market has moderated and overall economic conditions have stabilized. Second, the composition of our portfolio continues to shift away from the weaker 2006 and 2007 origination vintages with an increasing concentration of better performing 2008 and 2009 loans. And third, we have benefited from the sustained strength of the used-car wholesale market.”

Berce added that the company expects to see sustained improvements in overall credit metrics in calendar 2010 as it moves past the peak loss periods of its 2006 and 2007 vintages, and as the stronger 2008 and 2009 vintage originations become a more significant percentage of the portfolio.

AmeriCredit added that it has substantially rebuilt its originations infrastructure, as it increased the number of producing dealers from 4,900 in the September quarter to 6,700 in the year-end quarter. Officials also touted the reopening of one of its regional credit centers, which also received an increase in staffing in its sales, underwriting and funding departments.

The only bad news is that consumer demand for loans remained depressed during the quarter despite improving capital markets, which Berce said allowed the company to reduce annual percentage rates to 17.9 percent in the year-end quarter from 19.1 percent in the September quarter. Still, he said the more favorable conditions could lead to an increase in the company’s credit-risk appetite this year.

“Prospectively, as we see favorable credit development on recent vintages, we may selectively increase our credit risk appetite in geographic regions where we see stable to improving economic conditions,” Berce said. “We expect modest growth in originations for the next several quarters, which, if achieved, will result in our portfolio troughing in the $8 to $8.5 billion range in fiscal 2011.”

FORT WORTH, Texas — AmeriCredit Corp. appointed Robert Sturges to its board of directors and announced the resignation of Bruce Berkowitz today. Sturges, president and CEO of Nevada Gold & Casinos, Inc., is Fairholme Fund, Inc.’s designee to AmeriCredit’s board. He has more than 25 years of gaming industry experience including over 15 years with Carnival Resorts & Casinos and Carnival Corp. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Rutgers School of Law.

Berkowitz stepped down from AmeriCredit’s board due to the demands of his position as Managing Member of Fairholme Capital Management. Berkowitz’s resignation did not result from any disagreement with AmeriCredit’s board or management.

“We sincerely thank Bruce Berkowitz for his service and the insight he brought to our board,” said AmeriCredit’s Chairman Clifton Morris, Jr. “We are pleased to add Robert Sturges to our board, an addition that was unanimously supported by the board. He is a well-respected and accomplished professional and I am confident that our company and our shareholders will benefit greatly from his knowledge and counsel.”