U.S. factories boosted output last month, and December ended up being their best month of growth in five years.WASHINGTON – The federal government said Tuesday it will auction warrants it received from two giant insurance companies as part of its efforts to recoup costs of the $700 billion financial bailout.
The Treasury Department announced it will auction warrants of The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Lincoln National Corp. over the next several weeks. A warrant gives the purchaser the right to buy common stock at a fixed price.
The government obtained the warrants when it provided Hartford Financial, Lincoln National and several other major life insurance companies with billions of dollars of support in the spring of 2009 to help them shore up their capital positions in the wake of major investment losses.
Hartford Financial, based in Hartford, Conn., received $3.4 billion in support from the government’s $700 billion bailout fund on June 26, 2009, and repaid the support March 31.
Lincoln National, based in Radnor, Pa., goes by the name Lincoln Financial Group and has operations in Fort Wayne. The company received $950 million from the bailout fund on July 10, 2009, and repaid the support June 30.
The Hartford warrant auction will involve the sale of 52.09 million warrants. The Lincoln National warrant auction will involve the sale of 13.05 million warrants.
