General Motors has announced that they have agreed to sell Allison transmission to The Carlyle Group and Onex Corp for $5.6 billionBoston  - General Motors has announced that they have agreed to sell Allison transmission to The Carlyle Group and Onex Corp for $5.6 billion.

The deal is a huge step in the direction General Motors wants to take as they are trying to completely restructure the company in such a way that they will be able to dump some assets and build on cash reserves.

They want to completely change their product line to compete with foreign-based competition.

The Allison sale will close in the third quarter as long as it gets the regulatory approval. It includes seven manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis.

GM put out a press release stating that “This is another important step to strengthen our liquidity and provide resources to support our heavy investments in new products and technology. At the same time, this sale will position Allison for growth with strong partners in Carlyle and Onex, which have well-established track records of working effectively with their management teams, unions and employees.”

GM shares rose 62 cents or 1.7%.