Yesterday GE (NYSE: GE) priced an offering of 547,825,000 shares of its common stock at $22.25 per share.
The news sent the company's share price downward 10% to a new 5-1/2-year low according to Reuters, which also reported that Warren Buffett was among the new investors contributing to the $15 billion equity placement.
Shares of the company have dropped steeply in recent weeks as the credit crunch has affected the company's finance arm. GE warned last week that its 2008 profit could drop 12%.
Reuters reported that GE sold $3 billion in preferred stock to Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A; BRK-B) at the $22.25 price.
According to the report, the sale price is less than GE has paid recently to buy back its own stock.
GE said the newly raised funds would improve the company's liquidity and allow it to make acquisitions in this period of market unrest.
Read the full Reuters coverage.
