UPDATE, 11/27/12, 5:45 p.m. EST: The names of additional Weil attorneys have been added in the article’s eighth paragraph.

Ally Financial Inc. celebrated Thanksgiving Eve last week by agreeing to sell its European and Latin American automotive finance operations, as well as a 40 percent stake in a joint venture in China, to a subsidiary of its former parent, General Motors, for roughly $4.2 billion.

The deal between Ally and General Motors Financial Company Inc., which is expected to close in multiple stages throughout 2013, represents the lender’s third and final asset sale in recent weeks, Ally CEO Michael Carpenter said in a statement. Proceeds from the three deals are expected to total almost $9.2 billion—money earmarked for paying off the government bailout Ally received at the height of the economic crisis. (In 2006, GM sold control of Ally—which was then called General Motors Acceptance Corp., or GMAC—to Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 billion.)

The U.S. Department of the Treasury began pumping billions of dollars into GMAC in 2008, amid the government’s effort save the U.S. auto industry. Treasury’s investment in the auto lender eventually totaled $17.2 billion. While the government has recovered roughly $5.9 billion of that sum to date, it still owns about 74 percent of Ally’s stock, according to The New York Times.

In October, Ally completed two deals within a week. The company first sold its Mexican insurance business, ABA Seguros, to the ACE Group for $865 million, then unloaded its Canadian loan business for $4.1 billion in a deal with the Royal Bank of Canada. October also saw Ally’s bankrupt mortgage lender subsidiary Residential Capital (ResCap) agree to sell its mortgage business to Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment Management for $3 billion. ResCap also agreed to sell its loan portfolio to Berkshire Hathaway for $1.5 billion last month. (As The Am Law Daily has reported, teams from Mayer Brown and Kirkland & Ellis have advised Ally in connection with the ResCap bankruptcy proceedings and asset sales.)

Sullivan & Cromwell is advising Ally on the agreement with GM after also working on the October sales of the company’s Mexican and Canadian assets. New York–based financial institutions partner C. Andrew Gerlach has led the way for S&C on each of those deals. Gerlach and corporate partner Jay Clayton are heading up the firm’s team on the deal with GM. Other S&C attorneys working on the matter include firm senior chairman H. Rodgin Cohen, M&A partner Sergio Galvis, tax partner Andrew Solomon, intellectual property special counsel Spencer Simon, compensation and benefits partner Marc Trevino, and environmental counsel Matthew Brennan.

Ally’s general counsel is William Solomon Jr.

GM Financial is relying on Weil, Gotshal & Manges as its outside counsel on the acquisition. Transactions cochair Frederick Green and corporate partner Danielle Do are leading the firm’s team. Weil frequently advises GM on a variety of matters and served as the automaker’s lead bankruptcy counsel three years ago.