GM Pension to Sell 20 Million EDS Shares

General Motors Corp.’s largest pension plan said it will sell $1.5 billion in Electronic Data Systems Corp. stock. The GM pension fund for hourly employees, EDS’ major shareholder, will sell 20 million EDS shares, reducing its stake in the computer services company to 12%. The plan has sold EDS shares periodically since GM spun off the Plano, Texas-based company in June 1996. The most recent sale enables the fund to benefit from a turnaround EDS Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Brown engineered since taking over 13 months ago, cutting $1 billion in costs and focusing on helping companies buy and sell goods on the Internet. EDS shares have risen 66% in the last year. With the sale, the GM fund will have cut its ownership stake in EDS to 12% from about 23% since last March, according to EDS’ 1999 proxy statement. GM remains EDS’ biggest customer, accounting for about 25% of its $18.5 billion in sales last year. The auto maker bought EDS in 1984 from Texas billionaire Ross Perot before spinning it off to let EDS pursue new customers and partnerships. EDS shares closed off 25 cents at $73.75 on the NYSE.